Falling Under
by Kamiko Kiyo
Summary: A glimpse of the alternate world called Underfell as Frisk tries to survive in the brutal underground where it's kill or be killed. And she's all out of kill. Underfell AU, Older Female Frisk. Based on comic by ParodyPunk.
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: It's been a while...

In light of my enslavement by Undertale and obsession with fanart/comics (especially Underfell)... well... this happened. There ya go, sport.

This is based off of a comic by ParodyPunk on deviantart and dedicated to her for her great content. Not sure what belongs to who since only the little at the end comes directly from her comic, but it's worth saying that she owns part of this story. Anyway, it's not much, but it's something.

Note: Older Female Frisk and Underfell

Check out the comic. It's way better. I'll put a link in my profile.

* * *

"Is it night time?" If there even was such a thing as "night" in the Underground, Frisk thought while staring down the length of the long room with thick pillars on either side of her. It was more like a massive hall, actually, with tall windows on either side of her bearing the same mark that she'd seen in various other places in the Underground that related to some legend. Yet, the windows were tinted just enough to prevent her from gazing out of them while moonlight spilled in, shining on the black and red checkered tiles, causing the entire room to appear not only sinister but teeming with suspicious shadows.

She held the flower pot containing her friend closer to her chest for comfort as she walked forward slowly, her steps echoing in the distance which she couldn't see due to the veil of darkness.

"I'm not sure…" Flowey replied, glancing around, just as wary as his companion. "But just keep going. We're almost there," he said encouragingly. They'd just finished fighting Mettaton who'd deemed Frisk too boring to keep his audience entertained since there had been no blood shed.

The ratings had gone down after about half an hour since all Frisk did was dodge. There was not enough "drama" and "suspense." Even her "amusingly naïve pacifistic speeches" had grown tedious it seemed. The battle had ended with Mettaton taunting. "Some were made for the world of show biz and some weren't. Unfortunately for you, darling, you just don't make the cut."

Frisk had smiled nonetheless as he shook his head with pity at her.

But Flowey was right. They were nearly at the castle and once they fought Asgore they could leave. She wasn't entirely sure how, but lacking a plan had never stopped her in the past and had actually worked out rather well. And she'd never needed to resort to fighting either.

Papyrus had been one of the greatest obstacles she'd overcome. At first, he'd set up a multitude of traps and obstacles meant to ensnare her, idly watching by as she stumbled to get through them. But every time she did, he seemed to grow more frustrated with her, vowing that the next one would be her undoing. If only he knew the number of times it really took her he might not have been so furious when he finally decided he needed to take her on with his own hands.

Despite the enthusiasm he claimed to have in his mission to take her soul, she'd felt from the very beginning that he was holding back on purpose. Why else would he have led her to obstacles and tried to trick her again and again instead of fighting her immediately?

After a harrowing back and forth of meeting his attacks by dodging, he'd seemed to be at his limit and asked with a simmering anger, "Why do you not fight back, human? If I kill you, your soul will be taken and we'll be free from the Underground. Do you not understand that?" Every hit he'd landed on her had actually seemed to make him more infuriated.

"I do. But I can't attack you. Not when I know that deep down you don't want to hurt me," Frisk had said with confidence as her wounded arm dangled, giving him a pleading look as her labored breaths became visible in the cold air of Snowdin. "You'll either have to kill me… or let me go. And then maybe… we could be friends?" She'd looked up at the tall skeleton with a worn but hopeful smile, holding a concerned Flowey with her good arm.

"Friends…?" Papyrus had said quietly as his tense stance eased just the slightest. "For what purpose would you want to be friends, human?" The rim of his eye socket had raised with questioning suspicion. "True, I am admired far and wide by all, but royal guardsmen do not need friends, as I am told by royal guardsmen not-friend-at-all-friend-like-acquaintance. And while I am not yet a royal guardsmen, I will follow the prerequisites required of me since I am soon to be one."

Frisk's smile had faltered a bit as she thought that over. "Uh, yeah, but, um… don't guardsmen… protect people?" She'd known she was going out on a limb then, but at least he wasn't attacking and she had time to rest.

Papyrus had been quiet at first, his scowl deepening pensively. "That is true. They protect the pitifully weak, even those unable to defend themselves unlike those such as myself."

"Well… I'm pretty weak," Frisk had pointed out. "I only have 20 HP and I actually _can't_ defend myself since I only dodge all the time," Frisk had said slowly with an urging tone. "I really don't have anyone who will or is capable of protecting me, so… I just thought, if I had a friend, they could protect me just like a royal guardsmen. I mean, it's the same thing." Wow, she could feel his interest in her argument waning as he stared at her, frowning stoically.

However, Flowey, easily catching on, had quickly added, "Yeah, I mean, it'd take someone really cool and amazing to decide to protect one human from the whole Underground. They'd have to be really strong to even try; at least as strong as a royal guardsmen. It's easy to fight someone weak, but it'd be a huge responsibility to protect them."

Papyrus had remained stone faced and still. As the minutes had ticked by, Frisk and Flowey had assumed the worst and pondered how else they might convince the skele-

"HUMAN!" Both flower and human had jumped and Frisk had snapped her head up at the skeleton.

"W-What?" She had tensed, ready for his next attack.

"A thought struck me. You have no one but a tiny, yellow flower to protect you. The entire underground wants your soul. It would take an incredibly powerful, cool person to ensure your safety. As no one else can, I, the Great Papyrus, will protect you, and by extension, become your friend," he had spoken with a grimly accepting expression.

Papyrus had spared her.

If she had been able to befriend him and not resort to violence, Frisk felt as if she could do anything. It filled her with determination.

A chill ran down her spine then as her mind was yanked back to the present by a shadowy figure up ahead. It stood in the darkness, just before the line where light met darkness let in through a window, where it couldn't be clearly defined beyond the outline of its shape.

Unsure of what she was seeing at first, Frisk's pace now slowed as she grew closer until the girl stopped dead center in moonlight of one of the windows so she was at least cast in the luminous light. Spotting two small, beady white eyes staring at her, she clutched Flowey firmly. A moment later shark-like teeth appeared below the eyes, glinting despite the dark, one of the teeth golden.

"I've got a bone to pick with you," Sans spoke, his seemingly permanent grin menacing.

Swallowing down her fear, Frisk replied, "I don't want to fight, Sans."

"Really? That's a new one," he retorted with false surprise, tsking at her. "To be honest, I didn't expect you to make it this far, kid. At least not with that attitude. But look at you." His roaming gaze made her feel like he was witnessing some amusing anomaly. "You haven't gained any LV or EXP." He shook his head then, as if pitying her. "Just makes it easier to kill you though. And unlike Papyrus, that's no skin off my bones," he told her with a carefree shrug.

"Frisk, he won't listen. We should run. We could maybe find another way," Flowey pleaded, knowing this wouldn't be like their time with Papyrus. He'd held back at least. Sans didn't look like he could wait until the fight started.

Plus, there was something about Sans since the beginning that Flowey had noticed but couldn't put his vine on. After they'd escaped Toriel, who'd lashed at Frisk in anger when she decided she wanted to try and leave, Sans had appeared mysteriously. Literally and figuratively.

Frisk hadn't even known he'd been there until he'd been speaking directly behind her, but he'd also claimed that he didn't care about capturing a human (too much work) even though it was his job to do so. The lack of enthusiasm when Frisk's would be the last soul needed to break the barrier had been oddly unsettling.

It had been relieving to Frisk to know there was someone who wouldn't attack her on sight, but something about the way the big-boned skeleton had watched and interacted with them, like he had just been waiting for something grand to happen, had set off alarms in the plant.

"No, Flowey." Frisk now held the flower pot her friend was in to her chest protectively. "I'll have to face him one way or another. I have to do this and we both know it," she told the flower firmly before breaking into a soft, reassuring smile. "I can do it. I know I can." She had determination and had gotten this far after all.

A white streak flew forth then, nicking Frisk's right cheek when she barely managed to avoid the projectile swiftly approaching from the corner of her eye. The projectile, a bone with one end sharpened to a point, was then embedded into the wall far behind her, stabbing it audibly in the great hall.

Seemingly annoyed that his presence had been ignored, Sans' hand then dropped down and slipped back into his pocket as he spoke. "Not that I don't like interrupting your flow-wow , and trust me, I'd love to see you try to run," he said gruffly, smiling in satisfaction when he saw that Frisk's HP had taken some damage. "But we've got all day to fight and I wanna get started." Sans grinned sadistically with jagged sharp teeth and his left hand emerged from his pocket, his skeletal hand radiating with a gleaming blaze. "So why don't we have ourselves a good time?" His left eye glowed, the entire socket flaming just like a crimson inferno in the dark. "Because I know _I'm_ about to have a GREAT TIME!"

Frisk gasped and then all she saw was red.

…

"Are you okay, Frisk!?" Flowey shouted in worry after the last attack. It had left her heavily wounded, but she still acted like she could take that and much more even though she had only five HP left.

Leaning against a pillar for support, her hair was disheveled and her clothes were ruffled and worn in several places from constantly running and moving to avoid Sans' attacks. Sweat trickled down the side of her face as she wiped a bit of blood from her lip that had split open. Even Flowey hadn't been able to fully avoid the brunt of Sans' relentless blasts, his pedals frayed and worn away at the edges, a tear or two sustained as well.

Sans was brutal. One attack came after the next in rapid succession with no time for reprieve except when Frisk was trying to talk, joke or spare her way out of the battle. He would slam her into walls or pillars, blast her with magic or throw bones at her relentlessly in every direction in every way. She could barely survive his attacks, having long since eaten through her inventory, let alone predict his next pattern of attack. He'd scoff at her attempts to reason with him and ignore her when she pleaded for mercy to end the battle and was only rewarded with another punishing attack.

"Go ahead and spare me. I'll still kill you," Sans said expectantly with his usual air of ease, seeming to relish her pitiful state since she wouldn't fight him and couldn't keep dodging.

Knowing she couldn't take another attack without dying, she searched through all her possible acts quickly and decided, thinking grimly. _'The only thing I haven't tried… please, God, let this be it.'_

Sans approached, pointed bone picks at the ready and a skull head blaster at his left, with his hand poised to unleash her doom, his other nonchalantly tucked into his hoodie. "Die," he sentenced her, his callous smirk in place.

Raising her head, Frisk pursed her lips firmly, resolve set in her eyes as she stared ahead at him, her fists clenched tightly. "Flowey, close your eyes," she gently told her friend. This was her last move; probably the only thing that could get to Sans when all she'd done before had failed.

Frisk needed to flirt for her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Flirting was generally simple. Frisk said something flattering (often a cheesy line to break the ice) and it got the ball rolling. She used it even when she wasn't really trying for more, such as when she'd met Toriel. After falling down the hole at the summit of Mt. Ebott and meeting Flowey, she'd encountered the goat woman walking by while the flower had hid behind Frisk, fearful but unwilling to abandon the unfortunate human should anything happen.

"What do we have here?" Toriel had murmured to herself. She'd had a quiet, serious demeanor about her, staring down at Frisk regally as queen would from her throne at her subject. And the staring continued as if she expected Frisk had some business with her, waiting impatiently for what the girl would say.

It had been a very uncomfortable atmosphere to say the least. Coughing into her fist awkwardly, she'd pondered what would be a good response to the expectant stare. She was all alone except for Flowey and was so new to the Underground that it'd probably be a better idea to stay on good terms with those she met.

"D-Do you have a map?" Frisk had asked, meeting the monster's gaze despite her desire to turn away under the intent stare.

"A map? Why? Not sure where you are?" Toriel had assumed with the slightest hint of smugness in her tone. Humans never did quite know what to do. They fell down, likely disoriented at first, before pleading with her to help them find some way back up. At first she let them go, but as the souls stacked up, she realized she couldn't let this go on. Every time after her realization had either escaped her or fought and then fled when she could no longer withstand their attacks. She'd have to tread carefully with this one as it was the last.

"I'll say this now," Toriel had begun. "A map won't help-"

"'Cause I'm getting lost in your eyes," Frisk had interrupted with a cheeky grin as Toriel's eyes widened and she stared at the human, dumbfounded. At the back of her leg, Frisk could feel something tap lightly against her, unaware it was Flowey's planted face.

A minute had passed in silence before Frisk spoke again. "Whaaat about a band-aid?" she asked, her smile more strained this time, but still genuine. "Because I just scraped my knee falling for you!"

At the back of her leg, Frisk had felt a light, rhythmic patting as Flowey pounded his face there repeatedly.

Then, unexpectedly, a soft laugh floated through the air. Frisk and Flowey had turned to see Toriel covering her mouth as her shoulders shook. Flowey couldn't believe his eyes while Frisk had smiled upon seeing that it had worked.

"You're quite strange. You know that, my child?" she'd said after her laughter had subsided, though a tepid smile still lay on her face. "You're probably confused, aren't you? If you'll follow me, I'll explain everything to you," Toriel offered. Frisk could tell that the woman hadn't opened up to her entirely, but she knew that the goat woman had at least softened up to her.

"Does that mean I can follow you home?" Frisk asked behind her as Flowey followed close behind, shocked that Toriel had taken so well to the flirting. "'Cause my parents always told me to follow my dreams."

Flirting had more power than most people expected. But even Frisk had to admit, she wasn't feeling very confident in her last ditch effort when faced with the sight of the fierce, blood-thirsty skeleton who literally _glowed_ with murderous intent.

She had to play this right. Her heart pounded nervously in her chest and she considered how to do this. He'd had a sense of humor before (raunchy and perverse as it could be at times), throwing out some puns here and there.

 _'You are dead sexy. Literally.'_ No, he wasn't really dead, just a monster.

 _'Does your left eye hurt? Because you've been looking right all day._ ' That one felt kind of heavy handed since his eye was actually burning with magic _intended to kill her_.

 _'I was wondering if you had an extra heart. Mine seems to have been stolen.'_ And thrown all over the room along with her body.

 _'If you were words on a page, you'd be what they call fine print!'_ Ha, because his name was Sans-

Without warning, bone picks shot at her. Her gradually relaxing train of thought was broken, leaving her body rigid with trepidation as she was reminded of the precarious situation she was currently in. The bones jammed themselves into the pillar under her arms, on the right side of her head and right above it as well, pinning her in place. One last bone sailed through the air then, aiming directly for her.

Tears of fear welled in her wide eyes and Flowey covered his, shivering and sniffling, unable to watch his friend die so gruesomely. Instinctively tensing to shut her eyes, Frisk lowered her head. All thoughts of casually flirting her way out of this were lost, her mind blanking.

"I LIKE YOU!" she shouted bluntly as she waited for the finishing blow. She could hear her own panicked cry echoing through the hall causing her to realize that she wasn't dead yet.

She warily opened her eyes and glanced up without moving her head to see the bone aimed for her had stopped in midair, barely an inch or so from reaching its target, her face, and a second later it clattered to the floor.

His left eye losing its ghastly glow in an instant, Sans' face was drawn into agitated disbelief and shock, his cheek bones sporting the faintest bit of red before it was gone and his expression darkened forbiddingly.

"Phew…" Frisk managed a sigh of relief, her eyes gliding shut, which hardly lasted as Sans was soon upon her, silently glaring down at her. She returned the look with a guarded frown, unsure of his next move, but still willing to face off with him despite the circumstances.

"You serious?"

He spoke so quietly and stared at her so intently, she wasn't sure if she'd heard right and numbly replied, blinking. "H-Huh?"

His left hand was a blur as it reached up to grab the bone pick stuck above her head in the pillar, yanking it out with a bit of stone dropping down from the crack before poising the tip right at her neck.

"DID YOU FUCKIN' MEAN IT!?" His rapid fire question of demand made her eyes widen in surprise as her heart stopped. The human girl looked no different than a deer in headlights.

He looked more irritated than she'd ever seen him before, impatient and maybe even anxious about her reply. Whatever he had to feel anxious over, she really hoped that she didn't disappoint him, Frisk thought as she swallowed nervously.

"Erm, y-yeah…" she replied with wary caution, her tone nervous and her voice barely even as she answered the monster that had been one bone away from killing her moments ago and still was. She could feel herself sweating and a trail of blood trickled down her face, adrenaline rushing through her with alertness and the need to survive as she stared at him with dread.

"Erm, y-yeah…" she replied with a feminine shyness, her tone so sweet and her voice airy with longing as she answered him. He could feel himself sweating and his blush returning before spreading as he watched her whole visage practically seem to sparkle in the darkly lite room and she stared at him with hope.

She liked him. And he'd been about to kill her. Without even knowing! He felt bad then. Killing her could wait another day, but this was something that needed his attention now. How long had she felt like this? It must have taken so much for her to finally come out with it. Sans was no expert, but if she liked him and he wasn't NOT interested in her (and maybe even thought she was pretty cute too), then wasn't he supposed to do something other than brutally beating the shit out of her?

Dropping his bone pick which seemed to disintegrate into thin air before it could even hit the ground, Sans grabbed her wrist abruptly and averted his gaze to the side, unable to look at her cute, bloody face.

He could make this right. Even he could admit he wasn't always smooth, but even if he messed up and ended up changing her mind afterwards then he could always just kill her then. And if it did work out… either way for him, it was a win-win.

"Let's go then," Sans suggested, flushing furiously, missing Frisk's own red-faced disbelief. "On a date, I mean."


	3. Chapter 3

And the comics have been done. Really didn't think I'd make it this far.

So, I could potentially go on to do another chapter given what I've come up with, but once again, it's up in the air. I have an end game, but not a game plan. In light of that, if anyone has suggestions, ideas or just some funny shenanigans to help fill up the story with, I'd be glad to hear them. Otherwise, this stands fairly well on its own, I think.

Thank you for all the comments, views and favorites and once again, thank you ParodyPunk, the creator of the comics.

* * *

Frisk had never considered it before, but maybe her flirting had worked _too_ well. She was by no means eager to return to the brutal pummeling Sans had subjected her to before, but her last resort now brought on a whole new set of problems. The primary one namely being that she was going on a date with Sans.

It didn't help that now that all of her adrenaline was running out of her system, Frisk was left in a slightly dazed state, slow to react and a bit dumbfounded over the simplest things.

"Wha… a date?" she repeated slowly, eyeing him dubiously. She felt the grip that had migrated from her wrist to her hand tighten as Sans glanced at her sharply with a dark scowl.

"Yeah. You don't want to?" he asked with a challenging suspicion and she could see the menacing glint in his eye was still alive and well. However, he seemed annoyed with her that she was hesitant at all, like his proposal had been pulled from him with great difficulty.

"No, no! I do!" Frisk reassured him quickly, shaking her head wildly (a little too much as she felt a headache coming on) with a strained smile. "Sounds great, I-"

And there went her legs.

Unceremoniously dropping to the hard floor on her bottom, Frisk barely stopped herself from letting Flowey's pot smash into the floor by maneuvering him with her arm to be placed on her lap.

"Frisk!" the flower cried in shock, turning towards her anxiously as Sans jumped, his eye sockets widening as he watched her crumble to the ground, still holding her hand.

"Y-You okay, kid?" Sans asked roughly, the words coming out nervous as if he'd never asked them before in his life.

"I'm… I'm fine. Just… tired," Frisk smiled weakly at Flowey and then Sans.

She'd forgotten how much her legs were burning from the exertion of running a mad dash around the room to escape Sans' attacks. Now that she was coming down from her run her legs throbbed, crying for rest and refused to even support her as she stood.

"She needs to get her HP back up." Flowey caressed a leaf above the bruise on her cheek to comfort her before turning to plead to Sans. "Please help!"

Finally letting go of Frisk's hand like it was on fire, Sans shoved his own into his hoodie and glowered at Flowey for trying to order him around, causing the flower to bow wearily, still suspect of the skeleton's change of inclination towards murdering them both.

"Don't," he growled in a hostile tone, "Tell me what to do." Taking a step back, he teleported away, causing Flowey to gape.

"At least he's gone," Flowey commented with a sigh, turning to Frisk. "I can't believe you sometimes," he said with a bland stare now that the danger was gone.

"Well, it worked," Frisk said with a bashful laugh of relief as she leaned against the pillar, breathing deeply.

"You got lucky." He shook his head. How she even came up with this stuff in the heat of the moment was beyond him. "We need to get you healed and leave quickly. If we accidentally meet someone else, you might not make it." She was still only at five HP and in her condition there was no way she was outrunning them either. "Or worse, in case that crazy bag of bones comes back-"

"Who's a crazy bag of bones?" Sans reappeared, his jagged frown in place as he stared down at the golden flower with one eye glowing, just daring Flowey to continue.

With a cry, Flowey pressed himself against Frisk's shoulder to face Sans, protective and wearily alert due to the monster's sudden presence.

Sans continued his hard stare, watching Frisk try to soothe the jumpy flower, before rolling his eyes and approaching the two, putting out his flaring red eye. His hand then shot out in front of Frisk, startling her before she realized he was holding a round piece of snow in his hand.

Turning his attention to the side in order to not face her and sweating a little from his skull, Sans rasped quietly. "Here. Eat it."

Staring at it skeptically, Frisk eyed it like she would a possible bomb (which she really hoped it wasn't like when she was on Mettaton's "game show"), recalling the last time he'd offered her snow.

 _"So I got this great idea a while back, kid," he'd begun to explain to her. "They sell fried hot dogs, fried cinnamon bunnies, even fried sea tea. It all sells like hot temmie flakes. So now I'm selling fried snow," he lied with his typical laid back attitude, just waiting for her to ask how one could fry snow so he could lead her on some BS explanation._

 _"Really? I'll buy some," Frisk offered with a smile while ignoring Flowey shaking his head, not wanting them to have anything to do with the shady skeleton._

 _Sans blinked. "Seriously?" He looked at her incredulously before the broad grin returned to his face once more. "You know what? Sure. My price is a little steep though," he warned her._

 _Frisk smiled, reaching into her pockets for the money. "How much?"_

 _"Hm." He feigned quiet contemplation. "Ah, hell. Just for you, kid? I'll even lower the price. All it'll cost is your human soul!" He smiled brightly, his face probably looking quite disturbing, he was sure._

 _Frisk paused in rummaging through her pockets, gawking at him with wide eyes._

 _Taking that as her answer, Sans just shrugged. "No deal? Oh well. Your loss. Although, now that I think about it, this snow is too valuable to sell anyway."_

"I, uh, I still can't give you my soul," Frisk pointed out cautiously, sounding almost apologetic.

"What?" Sans finally turned to look at her with a stupefied expression. "You… can't…? N-No! It won't cost you anything! Just eat it, damn it!" He blushed in annoyance swinging his head down to look at his feet impatiently. "Like I'm that fucking penny-pincher spider chick," he grumbled sarcastically.

Dropping the snow into the bewildered Frisk's open hands, he moved away to give her his back, waiting for her to eat it.

He didn't hear any movement from her to heal herself and was just about to turn around and let his temper loose on her again when she spoke.

"Why is there a carrot in it?" Frisk asked, confounded, pulling the orange vegetable from the ball, unsure of how she didn't notice it before.

With a smug look, his building tirade of irritation forgotten, Sans shrugged, hands in his pockets as he looked around the dark room innocently. "Dunno. Found it that way. Just eat it," he urged her with more patience this time, sneaking a glance back when Frisk deemed the snow safe and began to consume it. "Serves the snowy bastard right," he murmured under his breath to himself as he chuckled silently causing Frisk to give him an odd look.

She let out a sigh as her HP was maxed out and she didn't look so worse for wear anymore. Careful as she got to her feet, she walked over to him and noted that he seemed satisfied that she was healed after giving her a once over.

"Alright," he began, appearing glad that that was over. "Now let's go get some real food for… our… date…" Each word was forced out as he blushed brightly as if he were coming to terms with the idea.

Without another word, he gripped her upper arm and teleported them instantly, causing Frisk to gasp when she had to quickly reorient herself to her new surroundings with little warning. Thankfully, Sans didn't let go of her arm until he was sure she was stable on her feet.

Glancing around, Frisk realized where they were. "Grillby's?"

With a terse nod, Sans slid into the empty booth with his hands tucked into his pockets and Frisk silently followed, taking the other side with Flowey placed in her lap. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sans looking down at the table and opened her mouth to speak until she realized that he was glaring holes into the table, his expression foreboding. Her lips instantly closed together as anxiety filled her over the thought of having that glare directed at her and she let her head fall similarly as a horribly awkward air filled the space between them. She could only imagine what dark, violent thoughts that were going through the skeleton's mind.

Frisk was cute, there was no doubt. But why couldn't Sans stop imagining her in a cat girl costume? _'Damn you, Alphys!_ ' Sans didn't know why, but looking her in the eye was like pulling teeth. He'd had no trouble facing her before and watching every second of her grimacing in pain or panicking as she ran to escape his blows. He actually thought it had been pretty fun at the time as most violent things were for him.

But knowing looking at her might make his mind go blank and that he might end up bumbling like an idiot in front of her as he almost did earlier when she confessed to him made him as willing to look at her as he would be to wear a red dress with a matching flower crown and post a picture of him in it for the whole undernet to see.

Flowey stared forward, his eyes squinted with less nervousness than the skeleton and human and more irritated exasperation, as if he'd rather be anywhere else in the world than as a third wheel on their grueling date.

Meanwhile Frisk felt practically suffocated under the weight of the tension and strived to find a way to break it. For all she knew, if this didn't go well they'd be back at square one in that giant hall for round two.

"So," Frisk turned her head up catching Sans' attention. The rim of his eye socket rose curiously, but he seemed eager to jump on something to get the uncomfortable air between them cleared. "This is nice, but do you know where cows go on a date?"

When Sans just stared at her speechlessly, she went on. "The moooovies," she laughed nervously until her weak laughter faded, swallowed up into the silence. It was only briefly interrupted as Flowey let his face fall to the table with a light smack, a soft groan coming from him.

Sans continued to stare. At least he wasn't avoiding her face now. And wasn't scowling homicidally.

Another stretch of silence. A short snort. "That was awful, kid." Sans gave a lopsided grin with a roguish playfulness. "Let me show you a real joke," he said. Another bewailing moan came from Flowey.

Frisk relaxed, exhaling as the tension finally seemed to lift and Sans became less agitated. She'd been thrown in a cage with a temperamental tiger and managed to tame it against all odds.

At least for the moment.


	4. Chapter 4 - Story of Undyne

"It's not the same, but it's not a bad replica," Frisk commented as they walked through the darkening rocky terrain. If any monster were nocturnal, she was sure this was where they'd be. "If stars were red, that is." There were lights up above on the Underground ceiling, tinting everything in a film of red and in the distance a demonic looking castle loomed.

"I don't think it was made with accuracy in mind," Flowey retorted with a frown. "Frisk, walk slowly, I can barely see anything," he advised, squinting to look ahead of them. The dim light only did so much to illuminate their path.

Frisk laughed despite their situation. "You know I'll be the one to fall if I trip." She swung the umbrella in her grip as she walked, having closed it when the rain had abruptly stopped when they entered the new area.

"Yeah. But I'll be the one smashed into the ground if you tr-" Flowey and Frisk both gave a pause when they heard what sounded like the snap of a branch. The fact that they hadn't seen a tree since Snowdin didn't comfort them in the least. The air seemed to chill then and Frisk forced herself not to glance backwards. Several more snaps sounded behind them, growing more rapid in succession like whatever was behind them was quickening its pace.

In the macabre atmosphere around them, the snapping sound grew even more threatening. Heart pounding in her chest, from there Frisk walked more briskly, fearing the darkness less than whatever was pursuing them.

"Frisk, walk faster, I can barely see anything!" Flowey cried in terror, looking behind them for her. He couldn't see whatever monster was after them, just hear it.

The snapping became even faster and Frisk began to bolt. A second later, Frisk was thrown back, her momentum bouncing reactively when she hit something head on. A trio of screams filled the air.

Wait, a trio?

Frisk and Flowey's voices died down when they realized there was a third scream and looked up to see a monster on the ground in front of them, mirroring their behavior and look of awe.

Her teeth were jagged like Sans', but smaller and that was where their similarities ended. Even sitting down where she'd fallen running into Frisk, the human could tell that the monster was tall. Her skin was a lilac shade of purple and her long blonde hair was tied into a low ponytail that currently fell over her shoulder. It laid to conceal one eye as well and the visible one's pupil was a slit like a cat's, staring at them, bewildered. (1)

"Oh! I'm so sorry," she apologized, quickly getting up and offering a hand to Frisk. "Are you alright, honey? I was running from these horrible monsters, scared out my wits."

Stunned by female monster, Frisk numbly took her hand and was on her feet in an instant. She was even taller than Frisk had thought, elevated even more by her knee high dark pink heeled boots. "Uh, y-yeah and same here," she replied slowly. Flowey gave the woman a scrutinizing look as if trying to determine if she was real or some kind of shared hallucination.

"Oh, thank goodness," she let out a sigh of relief before smiling bashfully as she brushed off her light pink skirt. "You startled me pretty badly too. I'm Nydeun by the way." (2)

Gradually adjusting to the fact that someone in the Underground was treating her nicely, Frisk slowly smiled back brightly. "I'm Frisk. And this is Flowey." The flower still looked disbelieving but gave a courteous wave to Nydeun.

"Oh, how cute!" she gushed at the plant. "Wow, you're... you're not mad." Nydeun realized then with a blink.

"About...?" Frisk prompted her.

"Most people would've yelled at me for running into them." She looked at Frisk as if fearing she might do the same.

"What? Uh, no! Of course, I wouldn't yell at you! It was an accident after all," Frisk reassured Nydeun.

Beaming at the human, Nydeun took her free hand that wasn't holding Flowey and grasped it with both of hers which were surprisingly dry for a fish. "You're so sweet. It's been so long since I've met anyone decent," she commented quietly with a forlorn smile. "Let me make it up to you! Come to my house for some tea." She then gave Frisk a once over and added with a sympathetic look. "You look like you could use a little rest."

Frisk frowned thoughtfully and looked down at Flowey who did his impression of a shrug. He didn't know about Frisk's judgement, but it hadn't steered them wrong yet.

"I'd like that. Thanks." This just showed Frisk that there was goodness in the Underground. Somewhere.

Nydeun looked delighted and turned to walk back the way she came, Frisk following. "Great! I'm sure I lost those bullies a while back, but I was too scared to stop running."

"Why were you being chased?" Frisk asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing unusual. Say something the wrong way and people get ready to shoot lasers at you." She crossed her arms, losing a bit of her air of nonchalance. "I swear. Everyone here is so horrible. I don't know how I make it through the day sometimes," Nydeun sighed.

"The monsters are rough. I can't really argue, but I don't think anyone's really hopeless," Frisk admitted.

"What do you mean?" The blonde frowned in confusion. "Everyone has to prove something, beat someone up or scare everyone off. How is that not hopeless? Or rude?" she asked as if she couldn't decide which was worse.

"Hm… how to say this?" Frisk glanced at Flowey who simply gave a questioning stare back. "I wouldn't get mad at a dog for biting me if it never learned to trust people. For all I know, it could have been abused and biting people kept them away."

Nydeun frowned in distaste. "I guess… but what good is a dog that snaps at you?"

"What's the old saying? Old dogs can learn new tricks?"

Nydeun blinked when a droplet of something hit her face. The rain only got heavier from there. As she looked up as if to gauge how long it would last, red covered her vision and she glanced over to see Frisk had opened the umbrella on her to shield from all from the rain (how the human did it so quickly with Flowey in their other hand was a mystery to Nydeun).

"So, I think, if I show love, mercy and compassion, monsters might learn that instead," Frisk concluded with a smile that spread to Flowey's face as well. Frisk could be an idiot sometimes, but she did have a good heart.

"That might work on the dogs, but I don't know about some of the other monsters I've run into…" Nydeun said as they walked.

"Haha. I guess. Dogs and monsters are definitely different, but I still think the principles are the same," she declared.

Regarding her quietly for a moment, Nydeun smiled softly. "You're fun Frisk. I think we'll have fun together."

Frisk blinked at Nydeun in surprise and then held Flowey close as she tilted her head down, flushing with a shy grin before giving a noncommittal shrug. Said flower shot her a deadpan look as if to say "You're not fooling anyone." Frisk could be like an open book sometimes.

When the rain finally stopped and Frisk saw the umbrella bin again, she reasoned that this was probably were the rain stopped and put it back. After making it over a steep ledge with Nydeun's help, the trio came upon a labyrinth of elevated platforms, the light dimming as they approached.

Catching Frisk and Flowey's disquiet at the dark area, Nydeun spoke. "We're almost there. Just stick with me. These platforms are kind of a maze," she told the human, guiding them forward. "We'll be having that tea in no time. Oh! This'll be fun," she exclaimed enthusiastically. "I haven't had anyone visit in forever. We can have cake, watch some shows, girl tal-"

The color in Nydeun's face drained when she looked back at Frisk.

The brunette gave the fish monster a questioning glance before Nydeun shoved her backwards by her shoulders, making her stumble a few steps. A hurt and confused expression flashed across Frisk's face when a familiar, giant red spear shot up in front of her from a red oval on the ground where she'd stood moments ago. The spear missed by less than an inch from her nose. Blanching when the clanking of metal sounded behind her, Frisk shakily looked behind her to see the haunting black suit of armor standing a few yards behind them.

"Gotta go. Gotta go!" Before Frisk could react further, Nydeun grabbed her hand and dragged her forward. The sound of metal slamming against the ground followed them and Frisk glanced behind them, gaping in terror when she saw the knight hot on their trail.

"Not her again!" Flowey shouted with cry of despair. Frisk shared the sentiment remembering barrage of spear hell they'd been in the last time they'd encountered the royal guard. She ran alongside Nydeun as they dodged the same kinds of red ovals that appeared on their path from which spears emerged, some getting way too close for comfort as Nydeun led her. Frisk felt lightheaded realizing that she would have been impaled if not for her.

"Oh, you both know her? Good. Then you'll know why we need to run!" the blonde shouted, practically dragging Frisk as she led them forward. "Don't know why she's chasing us, but who ever really needs a reason?" Nydeun huffed in annoyance.

Despite the woman's efforts, Frisk was caught on the occasional spear, grunting in pain when it zapped at her HP.

After several minutes of dodging, Nydeun yelled. "Almost there, I think. Just keep running and we can hide out in some brush!" When Frisk began to stumble and slow from the constant running, Nydeun pushed the human forward to run ahead of her.

"Are you sure?" Frisk panted. "I can't see-AH!" Frisk slid forward, falling over the edge when the platform ended abruptly. It was only Nydeun's quick hand that caught the girl and flower from falling and held her dangling from drop of unknown heights.

"Crap! Crap!" Nydeun struggled to pull Frisk up as the metal footfalls approached. "I went the wrong way!" she lamented.

"Ya think!?" Flowey shrieked scarcastically, eyeing the drop with dread.

The more she tried to pull the human up, the more she started to slip, Nydeun's hands wet and slick in perspiration.

Frisk's eyes were wide with fear and she didn't know if the fall or facing Undyne would be worse, but with one hand on Flowey's pot and the other taken by Nydeun, there was nothing she could do to help her new friend. Flowey glanced down and then up at Nydeun, helpless to do anything as the girls struggled and the royal guard closed in on them.

When Frisk felt her hand begin to slide from the wet grip, tears pricked her eyes as she accepted the inevitable and looked up at Nydeun apologetically.

"Just save yourself," she told Nydeun, letting go of the woman's hand. An expression of utter shock on Nydeun's face was the last thing Frisk saw before she held Flowey protectively to her chest in hopes he would make it if she didn't.

…

Miraculously she'd survived, falling on a bed of golden flowers, but there had been no sign of Nydeun. Frisk had been hopeful at the time that it had meant that she'd gotten away from Undyne. And she had, but the next time they met would leave Frisk with a whole new understanding of the Underground.

…

"Oh, thank god. You're alive!" Just before Frisk and Flowey entered Hotland, Nydeun blindsided her, appearing out of nowhere and practically tackling the human into a death grip of a hug.

Tapping on the woman's shoulders, Frisk made choking noises, not at all exaggerating about her lack of air due to the compression of her chest, before Nydeun got the message and let her go. Once the human regained enough air, Nydeun apologized profusely for dropping Frisk and insisted that she stay with her until she was sure that Frisk would be alright.

"Thank you, Nydeun… for worrying about me," Frisk said sincerely. It felt like so long ago since someone other than Flowey had showed they really cared about her and she was incredibly grateful for it. "But I can't let you follow me."

It hurt to see how Nydeun's face fell.

"I… you see." Frisk swallowed, hoping this would go well. "I'm a human," she admitted and Nydeun's eyes widened as she stepped back. "So it would be dangerous for you to follow me," she reasoned despite not wanting to scare the woman off.

"I… I get it," Nydeun replied firmly. "But… I could still help you. I'm not as weak as you think," she forced a smile. "Besides, you don't know the Underground as well as me."

"That's true. But I still just can't let you do this for me. Besides, I've still got Flowey to help guide me and I've gotten this far." Frisk grinned.

She'd told the same to Papyrus when he'd insisted to help her through the Underground as her "friend." Though she'd had no intention of fighting, she still knew that other monsters might target anyone with her, even after she'd left. She couldn't put anyone at that risk just to help her.

"Are you serious? I mean, what if you get in trouble?" Nydeun asked, dumbfounded by Frisk's refusal.

"I'll find a way. But I'm glad I was able to meet someone like you," Frisk said, giving the stunned fish woman a hug. "You proved to me that I'm doing the right thing by not fighting. That there are good people down here. Good bye," she said sadly. She'd miss the upbeat, sweet fish monster.

Filled with determination, Frisk strode past Nydeun and headed for Hotland, looking down at Flowey with a carefree smile. Soon it would all be over. Soon.

"F-FRISK!" Red spears shot through her suddenly visible heart then and she stumbled forward, narrowly avoiding six more. Gasping breathlessly in shock, her heart flickered with each jab of pain she felt while Flowey looked on in horror. Ignoring the new throbbing ache, Frisk swung around to face her newest enemy. Just where Frisk had left her, Nydeun stood, holding a red spear of light, her visible eye shadowed by her blonde hair.

"Sorry, honey." Nydeun's tone held a steely quality that it had lacked before. "But this is as far as you're getting!" A crazed grin spread on the monster's face as she raised her arm and the spear sped towards Frisk.

Jerking her body like a rag doll to the side and feeling the warmth of the energy as the spear passed her, Frisk turned back to Nydeun only to see her with another one, poised to attack. "N-Nydeun?" she heaved, shifting to steady her footing. "Wh-Why are you doing this? Who are you?" Frisk knew, but didn't want to believe it. She needed to hear it from the one who she thought was her friend.

"Oh, yeah. About that…" Nydeun dropped her offensive stance and tapped the end of her spear to the toe of her boots, looking at the ground awkwardly like she was about to deliver some discomforting news. "The name's actually Undyne." Undyne shot the human a bashful smile. "Not something I like the Underground knowing… but then," her smile turned sinister, "I _know_ you'll _never_ tell anyone."

"Wha…? How are you… Undyne?" Frisk was staggered as the fish monster twirled her spear playfully. Undyne was the suit of armor or whoever was in it and Nydeun had run away from it _with_ her.

"Right, right. You're probably confused. My bad," Undyne retorted, showing no signs that she was surprised. "Now, normally I don't let people in on the secret. But I'll reward you for getting this far. It takes some tough magic if you have no idea what you're doing, but animating an empty suit is child's play, honey." She held her elbows in her arms, waiting for it to click for the human girl.

"B-But the attacks." The spear-materializing ovals on the platforms seemed to hone in her location when they appeared, but Nydeun had never made any move other than to run.

"Oh, that? A simple pre-set, timed trap. There was a reason _I_ was the one leading _you_. At first, at least," she implied. Undyne's sly grin was more cutting than her spear.

She'd been shoving Frisk into the path of the spears and led Frisk to the edge so that she'd fall.

"I'll admit though. I'm impressed." Undyne lost her taunting smirk for a moment before it reappeared even wider than before. "I honestly thought you'd be a goner when you fell and I could just pick up your soul after like a nut from a shattered and crippled little shell. Must be all that determination." The last part came out like an afterthought, like she'd never given it much contemplation.

Undyne shrugged then. "Well, enough exposition. I told you we'd have fun together," she said with a sweet smile as dozens of spears appeared in mid-air above her. Her smile morphed into a predatory grin. "So let the fun times begin!"

…

Misdirection and cheap shots. That pretty much summed up what fighting Undyne was like. When Frisk thought an attack would come from one direction it practically flickered away at the last second to come from at her from somewhere else.

"Frisk?" Flowey checked on the human uncertainly as she quickly ate a Cinnamon Bunny. It had been a close call, her HP down to 1.

"I… don't know how long I can keep this up," she admitted, swallowing. It tasted like sand and she'd eaten so many by now that she was grateful, cinnamon no longer holding the same appeal as it once did.

"Probably not as long as I can," Undyne taunted in a sing-sing-like voice. She looked no more drained than she had when the fight had started. "Really though, at this point, you're just pathetic. Are you gonna beat me with hugs? Pat my head and tell me I don't have to be this way?" Undyne's lips were pursed as she spoke to Frisk like one would a baby. "This has been going on longer than you can imagine, honey. You're never going to get past me like this. You'll need to throw a punch eventually, not that it will help you much at this point."

"I can try," Frisk retorted with an unflinching gaze.

"Hm… you _can_ try. Can't you?" She tapped her chin as if contemplating the problem herself. "How about this? If you do attack me… I'll give you a freebie," she offered.

"Don't listen to her. You know it's a trick!" Flowey declared, throwing the best glare he could at the terrifying fish woman. Frisk was quiet, glancing from Flowey to Undyne to the ground pensively. If she were being honest, she didn't know if she could talk, joke or flirt her way out of this one.

"Don't worry, Flowey. I've got this," Frisk reassured him decisively and rose to face Undyne. "Fine. You wanna fight?"

Undyne rose a brow with renewed interest. She'd hoped, but didn't think it would work. "I see you've finally gotten with the program. I'm so proud," she wiped a nonexistent tear from her one visible eye. "Give me your best shot, honey." As promised, she opened her arms wide as her spear vanished.

Undyne knew. One blow and there was no going back for Frisk and her wimpy goody-two-shoes shtick. She couldn't wait to rub it in her face. It'd be so much more fun than beating the human up, a devout pacifist the end.

"You asked for it." Frisk's eyes narrowed, staring Undyne down with determination.

The human rushed forward with more speed than Undyne expected in her current condition. This could hurt more than she thought it would, but she didn't move a muscle. Soon it would all be over. Soon.

The breath left her lungs sharply, her lips parted and her eyes widened after Frisk closed in like a blur even to Undyne. She couldn't believe it. "Uh… what? You… how?" she asked dumbfounded.

"How could you…?" Undyne had to turn to watch the human run and run, darting further and further away, heading back in the direction of Waterfall. "You… coward," she breathed incredulously, gaping in utter shock, before gritting her teeth. "No one…" she muttered, seething, "Gets the slip on me, YOU LITTLE PUNK!" In a second, she was in hot pursuit on the human's tail.

"Don'tlookback! Don'tlookback! Don'tlookback!" Frisk chanted as Flowey flailed and wailed hysterically in terror.

If looks could kill, she'd have wounds in the shape of Undyne's livid face which was now practically blue with fury.

* * *

Acknowledgements/Notes:

(1) Credit for the design goes to deviantart user lemon-tama. Link in my profile.

(2) Nydeun is pronounced "nay-deen"

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter was basically a flashback, but I wanted to get Undyne established since it took me forever to figure out her character for Underfell. I'm really happy with it, but let me know what you think. Also, rest assured, Sans will be back next chapter.

Also, kudos to Guest #1 (since there were two different guest reviews) and 13Mitsume27 for getting the "carrot in the snowball" reference. We might not be seeing the last of it just yet though. ;)

And big thanks to deviantart user lemon-tama for letting me use their design of Underfell Undyne for references. I know it doesn't follow the whole black, red and yellow scheme, but seeing as how Undertale Undyne already has that, I was really struggling to come up with how she'd be different in Underfell. Lemon-tama's picture got me out of my slump and the whole look completely helped me develop my headcanon of Undyne as well as Alphys.

In my headcanon, she's pretty different from Undertale Undyne who's so blunt and direct, instead using manipulation, diversions and every trick in the book to get the job done, though she's just as strong. She's a bit more level headed and very calculating, putting up a facade of kindness but is still just as crazy underneath. She's a proficient liar as well and tells the Underground that Undyne is her sister. As such, no one ever messes with her as Nydeun since they know Undyne will kick their asses (something she gloats about as Nydeun).

Fun facts:

The person shooting lasers at Undyne was Alphys after she insulted an anime Alphys was watching.

Nydeun is an anagram for Undyne.


	5. Chapter 5

"And then I threw the whole pitcher of soda at his head. Luckily for him, it was a soft drink," Sans concluded, eliciting a genuine laugh from Frisk. They'd been going at it for about an hour and once the human learned that Sans' jokes had a rather dark or violent nature to them, she'd actually begun to enjoy them. Never mind the fact that half the time she wasn't sure if he was actually telling her a joke or a real story like the guy whose whole left side he had cut off. "He's all right now," Sans had told her with a casual shrug, his eased grin never leaving his face.

A guttural sound interrupted Sans before he could continue and Flowey jumped from his nearly catatonic, joke-induced state to turn and stare behind him at Frisk's stomach where the noise had emanated from. A shy blush bloomed on Frisk's face as she tilted her head down and Sans rubbed the back of his skull awkwardly, choking out a nervous laugh.

"Right. We came here for food," he recalled.

Frisk gave a short nod as Flowey sighed in relief at the reprieve from the endless string of puns. "Oh, thank _god_! I couldn't take anymore-" Slapping a hand over the plant's mouth, Frisk gave the skeleton a nervous yet encouraging smile.

In turn, Sans just stared at Flowey oddly. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about the little flower and any of its fading groans (which he'd enjoyed immensely while still aware of the little yellow pansy) had eventually just meshed with the background in his mind.

Twisting his head back, he called out, "Hey, Grillby! Two orders of my usual!" The indigo flamed monster gave him a look that conveyed that it was about time that the two ordered. Offering a nonplussed shrug, Sans replied simply. "I'm a regular." Deciding it wasn't worth the energy to point out that _everyone_ was a regular, Grillby disappeared into the back to start on the order.

A glance around the room as he twisted back around revealed that they had more than a few pairs of eyes on them (or just sets, depending on the monster). More specifically, they gravitated towards Frisk. This caused Sans to glare right back at them in warning to mind their own business. It had the desired effect as heads turned away, some not without giving him a glare right back before doing so. One even gave him the finger and Sans returned the gesture in an even more obscene manner.

Not everyone recognized Frisk as a human. Or else Sans was sure that they all would have sprung on her before she knew what hit her. It had just been too long since one had been in the Underground let alone since one that roamed it so thoroughly before having their soul taken. They probably just figured she was a more tame looking sort of monster than most, perhaps hiding a tail, wings or some other sort of unique hybrid feature.

Despite this ignorance, nobody liked newcomers and they weren't afraid to show it. There was only so much of the Underground so claiming your place and keeping it was important. Some monsters had never even explored the entire thing, staying in one area their entire lives. It was better than facing the hostility of the denizens from parts unknown. Therefore, any outsider would either be beaten down into their place or (like he and his brother) fight their way in to show that they were strong enough to dish it back out and then some. Nobody had dared mess with them within a week of their arrival. Neither had happened with Frisk so far, but so long as Sans was around, it never would.

When Sans turned to face Frisk again, she was rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. He gave her a questioning look before realizing she'd noticed the same thing he did.

"That… happens a lot around me. Sorry," she apologized as he'd appeared quite annoyed with the stares. Sans didn't seem like one to enjoy undue attention in Frisk's opinion.

"Heh. You do stick out like a sore thumb," Sans agreed, leaning back in his seat with his hands in his pockets. "Or one that's not sore enough." He shrugged. "Don't worry about it. They all know I'll beat the shit out of them if they mess with you," he told her smugly.

He wasn't much of a protector, but he felt fairly confident that his strength, presence and reputation would ward off most of them. It was odd to think that those aspects might put her at ease when he was used to them doing just the opposite, but it was surprisingly satisfying.

Frisk noted he looked quite pleased with himself causing her to wonder if he actually hoped that someone might try to confront her just for a good fight. Flowey seemed to have the same thoughts as he paled slightly at Sans' declaration (or the flower equivalent of paling). She'd also discerned that the whole Underground seemed fixated on fighting or exerting dominance. Papyrus had even given her a very thorough two hour lecture about how friendship equated weakness, but, considering his greatness and strength, he could afford to allow their companionship.

Despite his emphasis, however, she still firmly believed that she could befriend those out to kill her and had been very encouraged when she'd met Undyne. Unfortunately, that had turned out to be a bit more complicated than she'd expected.

Calling herself Nydeun, she was easily the nicest monster Frisk had met in the Underground. Or, she had seemed so at first. That was before Frisk found out that she'd animated a suit of armor to pretend to be the real Undyne while chasing them, had "saved" Frisk from a trap of magically appearing spears that she'd set herself and had actually intended to kill Frisk the entire time. Thankfully, Frisk had done the smart thing and run away.

 _Undyne had chased them into a system of caverns back in Waterfall which Frisk hoped would allow them to lose her once she got lost looking for them, but that hadn't panned out exactly as she'd hoped. Pot holes covered the ground disguised as shallow puddles and the floor was coated in a thin film of dampness. She'd been in the caves before, but hadn't been trying to lose a fish woman hell-bent on hunting her down._

 _"Get back here, you spineless little girl!" Undyne's voice echoed through the caves as Frisk bolted, her chest heaving from exertion as she clutched Flowey anxiously. Her eyes darted all around her, trying to think of something she could do. Running made her footsteps splashed loudly and alerted her pursuer, but she worried slowing to hide would only give Undyne the advantage. At the very least the female monster hadn't been able to throw her spears in the narrow space. It was too large to use them effectively and even then Frisk easily turned a corner whenever Undyne tried to launch them._

 _"Found you!" Frisk screamed internally when Undyne appeared in a cavern to her left and Frisk darted to the right, practically feeling the woman's breath on her neck._

 _"Stop…!" Undyne reached out for the back of Frisk's shirt as the human scrambled for a way to lose her again. "Running…!" Just as Undyne gripped the shirt, Frisk grasped a pillar to her right and held ON tightly. "Awa- AHHHHH!"_

 _The tug on the back of her shirt had barely lasted a second. Frisk blinked and looked around. She could hear Undyne, but there was no sign of her._

 _A loud splash echoed and a string of curses followed._

 _Frisk had intended to use the column she'd grasped to swing herself around and quickly dart back to where they had come from without losing her momentum. Instead, Frisk's stationary position combined with Undyne's speed while gripping shirt her and the slippery surface of the cave had caused Undyne to snap forth like a whip as she'd tried to stop herself. Before she'd been able to slow, she'd slid into a tunnel with a steep slope, weathered and slick by the trickling water, and now spluttered in the pool at the bottom, drenched from head to toe._

 _It didn't take long for Frisk to realize where Undyne had ended up. Standing cautiously at the mouth of the tunnel, she looked at Flowey who was just as bewildered and then down the dim cavern._

 _"Uh… you okay in there?" she called hesitantly as the adrenaline gradually dissipated through her body._

 _"Yeah, I'm fin-fucking-tastic. Nothing but gumdrops and ice cream in here- WHAT DO YOU THINK!?" Undyne roared._

 _To be fair, it wouldn't be the strangest thing Frisk had encountered in the Underground._

 _The purple skinned monster stood and surveyed her surroundings. It was totally enclosed except for a few holes the size of her thumb at the bottom that drained the pool and prevented it from overflowing. Taking a deep breath, she began to crawl up the slope, but, no matter what, she never got further than pulling her ankles out of the water._

 _"Well… now that that's done, let's go and never do this again. Ever," she heard Flowey suggest bluntly up above._

 _Running a hand over her face, Undyne sunk into the waist deep pool with sigh. Her phone was fried, so there was no calling for help (even if she'd just owe whoever helped later on) and she just didn't have the energy to try any magic or break the rock._

 _She didn't hear a reply from Frisk to Flowey, but she did hear wet footsteps that grew progressively quieter and further away. Undyne didn't expect anything less; looked like even she was smart enough to leave. After all, Undyne hadn't given up when after Frisk's little "save yourself" gesture. If Frisk could be at least this cold, maybe she did have a shot of getting out, no matter how small it was. If they could reach the barrier while Asgore was away, that is._

 _Undyne perked when she heard footsteps again, blinking before she crossed her arms. "Back for more, honey?" Knowing the overly optimistic human, Frisk might just try to help her get out so long as she promised not to chase her anymore. As if. Undyne had some dignity left._

 _"Even if you make it past me, someone's going to capture you sooner or later. And knowing the people here like I do, most aren't going to be satisfied with just taking your soul." The human wouldn't be dissuaded, but striking a little fear into her would be a nice pastime while Undyne regained her strength. "Trust me. There are some truly sadistic people out there." One could almost believe Undyne if not the fact that Frisk had probably figured by now that Undyne was one of those sadistic people. Probably the one of the_ most _sadistic. She was an excellent liar, nonetheless._

 _Hearing Flowey mumble something up above but not quite catching it, Undyne turned to look at the slope and blinked when the length of a rope silently tumbled down._

After Frisk had come back and gotten Undyne out of the pool, she'd been ready for another run for her life (at least she'd healed before she'd come back). But after the sopping wet blonde had been pulled out, she'd given Frisk a disgruntled frown and walked out of the cave without a word.

"Well?" Back to reality, Frisk snapped her head up, locking eyes with Sans as he fidgeted in his seat nervously once again resembling a feral cat that was being cornered.

She'd been embarrassingly stuck in her reverie and blinked at him, blurting without thinking. "Uh, what was that? Sorry, I wasn't listening."

The table vibrated visibly and gave a heavy thud from the force of him driving the materialized pointed bone into it and Frisk held Flowey's pot to her, defensive as she and Flowey leaned back from the skeleton. Grinding his sharp teeth in frustration, his grip tightened on the bone as evidenced by the spider web-like cracks appearing underneath his hand. Frisk's stomach dropped and Flowey's petals wilted as they watched his eye glow brightly in his skull and he radiated a murderous aura as his bony grip shook.

"I said," he ground out after thirty very long seconds of terror for the human and flower. "Do. You. Feel. Safe. Around. Me?" Sans looked up at her appearing like death incarnate as if his piercing, bright stare could suck her soul right from her body.

"Wh-Why do you ask?" she choked out, blanching. Her immediate instinct was to say yes, but she was too fear-struck to even think about lying and if he saw through, he'd grow even more irate.

"Just answer the que-!"

"SANS! I knew I would find you here. Typically slacking off with a lazy, carefree- HUMAN?"

* * *

Author's Note: I admit, not much development, but I think things will pick up next chapter. Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows. It means so much to me to know people are enjoying my story as I haven't been on the writing scene in a while.

Dedicated to all of you, here's a little extra of San's perspective while Frisk is off in Flashback land.

(1) Phoenixflame of Thunderclan, this one is for you. ;)

* * *

Extra:

"Don't worry about it. They all know I'll beat the shit out of them if they mess with you," he told her smugly.

When Frisk didn't reply to his reassurance, the corners of Sans' teeth turned down marginally in a frown. It occurred to him that maybe she was squeamish about violence. Of course, that was something unheard of in the Underground since it was so common, but then she did come from the surface. Yet, even if he hadn't known that, Sans would have been able to easily tell that she came from another world unlike theirs.

Other than her obvious aversion to fighting everyone, he noticed certain comments or casual remarks could make her tense or give pause. She was also quick to avoid a skirmish she had no part in and ran as almost as often as monsters tried to fight her if she couldn't convince them to let her go. Watching it had been a source of entertainment to him before, but even he knew that wasn't the best course of action when they were on a date, thus he'd warded off any potential altercations. He'd have plenty of time to do it later after all.

In light of this, he coughed into his fist and added awkwardly. "N-Not like I'd beat the shit out of them in front of you, of course." Wait, she probably wouldn't like the idea of him beating someone up either. "Or at all, if you wanted," he murmured, looking away from her with a light red flush on his cheek bones. If there was a beating to be had, he could just take care of it himself after the date and leave her none the wiser.

She gave no reply to that either and Sans found himself struggling to explain. "W-What I'm saying is that you don't have to be afraid around me a-and I can at least be good for something." God, he wished someone would just crack his skull open now with all the sickening comfort he was spouting, but he could at least admit to himself that he wanted this date to go well. "Sure, I tried to kill you…" he trailed. Wow. He was smooth as crunchy fucking peanut butter bringing that up (1).

His already apparent blush deepened angrily. "But it's… it's not like that anymore. I wouldn't let you die or anything. And so… you should feel safe around me. I mean, I'm easily one of the strongest monsters in the whole Underground." He took an unnecessary but calming breath as he ceased talking to the wall and turned to Frisk. "So, do you? I mean, feel safe around me?" Her head was down and as the seconds dragged on, he grew more nervous and on edge. That was quite likely the most embarrassing thing he'd ever said and he couldn't read her reaction at all.

"Well?" he urged more insistently.

When she finally looked up, she appeared bewildered and blinked at him. "Uh, what was that? Sorry, I wasn't listening."

He coped the only way he knew how. Embedding something sharp into something else as his eye lite up bright red and he mentally raged. _'FUUUUUUU-!'_

Extra Alternate Ending:

"Well?" he urged more insistently.

"FUCK, NO!"

Sans was speechless as Frisk slammed her phone on the table with a groan before she noticed his guffawing.

When she finally looked up, she appeared bewildered and blinked at him. "Uh, what was that? Sorry, I was playing Carries You Over A Disproportionately Small Gap-py bird." She growled at the phone. "I almost had a silver medal," she lamented.

Sans stared at her with unamused blank eye sockets before grabbing her wrist across the table. "This date is over. Back to the sentencing hall," he deadpanned, teleporting them there in an instant. Letting her go, he summoned his gaster blasters and obliterated her and Flowey a second later, grinning like a maniac.

"GET DUNKED ON, BITCH!"


	6. Chapter 6

If Sans needed to breath, he was sure he wouldn't have done so at that moment, mortified at the turn their date had taken.

"Hi, Papyrus," Frisk greeted the taller skeleton tepidly, welcoming the distraction that distracted Sans from pursuing an answer to the question he'd asked while Frisk had been mentally distracted.

"What are you doing here, Human? And with my brother at that?" Papyrus grasped his jaw thoughtfully as his hand rested on his hip. "Who looks very suspicious as if my sudden, unexpected appearance interrupted something very important and suspenseful," he added, giving Sans a quizzical look before he eyed the bone pick lodged in the table.

Internally raging at his luck, Sans peeled his hand off the bone and forced himself to relax in an attempt to throw off anything else his simultaneously perceptive and slow brother might observe. Papyrus could find and bring the pieces together easily, but connecting them was what turned out to be the interestingly difficult part.

"Kind of on a date here, bro," Sans muttered under his breath discreetly, deciding to let the cat out of the bag and just get it over with so that Papyrus would leave.

"YOU'RE HERE ON A DATE!?" Papyrus' loud exclamation made Sans grimace and his blush deepen. "But you've never been on a date." He appeared even more bewildered.

Sans' eye sockets widened at his brother. "What? Yes, I have!" Sans denied vehemently, staring at his brother incredulously before shooting a conscious glance at Frisk.

He caught her owlish gaze and she swiftly averted her eyes to the ceiling, feigning ignorance as if she hadn't heard anything. However, Flowey didn't flinch a bit while facing Sans. "… I see. So that's how it is, huh?" the flower stated more than asked with a judging stare.

A growl rumbled from Sans' gold-toothed mouth before Papyrus spoke up. "But not with a human, you haven't. And you're doing it all wrong."

"Oh? And how would you know?" Sans snapped back. He immediately regretted asking when he realized what he'd just opened himself up to.

Papyrus sighed. "Oh Sans, your ignorance embarrasses me sometimes. It's a good thing you have me here for I, the Great Papyrus, shall have this date turned around in no time!" he proclaimed, taking a seat in the booth with Sans. "For starters, your eye is glowing. That is a clear sign of aggression. You're obviously scaring her."

To his credit, Sans instantly blinked it away, turning his eyes back to the usual miniscule white dots of light in his eye sockets as his shoulders hiked up in begrudging embarrassment.

"You have to treat humans more gently. Worry not, brother. I happen to have recently come across an official manual that will guarantee a smooth interaction with humans. Though it's not meant for dating specifically, I'm sure the principles apply just the same."

Said book appeared in his hand and he scanned the pages causing Sans to snarl. "You haven't even read it yet?"

"I said _recently_ ," Papyrus emphasized. "These things take time and your impatience is not helping the matter!" He shook his head. "I bemoan the thought of you doing this without me here. Thankfully, I should be able to undo any damage done. Now then," he read aloud, "'Step 1: Be prepared." Sans groaned, berating himself for inviting his brother as a ride along albeit unintentionally. "Before starting, you must have a game plan. Set activities and objectives are key." He looked at Sans expectantly. "Well? What was your "game plan"?"

Sans threw his arms up and gestured around them. "Uh, Grillby's," he pointed out the obvious.

"… F for poor taste in dineries, but there's nothing I can do about it now, I suppose," Papyrus commented with a distasteful glance around the establishment. "And your objectives?" he prompted.

"I-I don't know! The _kid_ asked _me_!" Sans replied in growing frustration. That wasn't technically true, but Frisk was happy to play the bystander at the moment.

"Oh ho! How utterly unexpected of a development," Papyrus declared thoughtfully, receiving a dark look from his brother.

"And why's that?" Sans asked brusquely.

"Seeing as it doesn't say whether it matters who asked who, I'll let the matter slide. I trust the human knows her own culture," Papyrus concluded decisively, ignoring his brother's question. "However, out of curiosity… Human! What was your objective for asking my brother on a date?" Not getting a bone stabbed into her face she wanted to answer.

Her body went rigid when she was suddenly pulled into the conversation. Noting that Sans was regarding her with similar curiosity and even some apprehension, Frisk replied without missing a beat. "I wanted to get to know him more." It was true and seemed to be the right answer according to Sans' quietly pleased demeanor.

"I see. Good then! At least someone other than me knows how to go about this. Now step 2: Get rid of distractions. Success is based on them listening to you fully and distractions invite lack of attention." With a cursory glance between the two, Papyrus' eyes landed on Flowey who appeared agonizingly despaired by the absurd situation before feeling alarm at the taller skeleton's abrupt attention, eyeing him with distrust.

"I'll be taking that." Before Frisk could even blink, Papyrus swiped Flowey's pot from her grasp, eliciting a terrified scream from the yellow flower.

"NOOO! Let me go! Frisk!" Flowey cried, reaching his leafy arms out for his companion with terror. He teared up as Papyrus began to stand, likely to "dispose of the distraction."

"Give me a moment while I dispose of this distraction." Hearing his fears come true made Flowey go from teary to balling. He hadn't been serious!

"Maybe this manual isn't as much bullshit as I thought," Sans murmured, grinning at the Flower's distress.

"W-Wait!" Frisk shot her arm out in a plea for Papyrus to stop. "H-He's not a distraction since he doesn't talk!"

"I suppose. But what other purpose could it serve?" Papyrus asked, sincerely pondering the question as he examined the flower curiously, turning him in his pot.

"He's, um, uh…" Frisk scanned the room, racking her brain for an answer. "Romantic decoration!" she concluded, gaining mirrored looks of dumbstruck disbelief from Flowey and Sans. "Flowers are romantic, right?" She smiled as convincingly as she could as Papyrus considered it.

"Of course they are! Good thinking, Human. I'd contend that withered flowers bring a nicer aesthetic..." Flowey tugged furiously at his roots, trying to escape the pot. "But this one will have to do. However, decorations are meant to sit in the center of a table," Papyrus explained like he would to a child that didn't know any better. Pulling the bone pic from its spot, he swiftly covered the slit with Flowey.

"R-Right. Sorry. My bad," Frisk apologized, rubbing the back of her head. Flowey was torn between relief and disgruntled aggravation, but ultimately settled on a mixture as he pouted silently in the center of the table.

"NYEHEHE! Your date is already improving with me here!" Papyrus stated proudly. "As if anything unexpectedly disastrous and/or potentially dangerous could happen while I'm around. Now then, step 3: Make direct eye contact. Eye contact means their focus is on you." Papyrus frowned at the text. "Hm. It doesn't say how much, but surely the longer and closer the better!"

"Wah!"

"The fuck!?"

"AH!"

Papyrus grasped the back of Frisk and Sans' necks unceremoniously and shoved them together leaving their faces less than a foot away from one another. Flowey, who was stuck in the middle, jumped back in surprise as his eyes darted back and forth between them.

"E-Enjoying the date?" Frisk asked Sans with a weak smile, hoping to lighten the situation.

"I'm gonna kill him," Sans replied matter-of-factly with a stoic expression.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. He means well even if you don't see _eye to eye_." Frisk joked.

"… Really, Frisk? You're doing this now?" Flowey asked as she realized a joke wasn't going to cut the tension building in Sans towards homicide.

"There. That should be an effective amount of eye contact. Are you both feeling focused?" Papyrus asked.

"I'm focusing something…" Sans glared to the side, clenching his fist as red light engulfed his hand.

"Wonderful!" Satisfied, Papyrus let go of their necks in order to read. "Next is step 4: Be confident. A firm but calm voice goes a long way when giving commands."

"Get outta here before I bash your skull in!" All thoughts of manners on Sans' part forgotten, his red eye flared to life.

"That was a nice try, brother, but try again sounding more calm and less murdery," Papyrus directed Sans who looked ready to explode at any second. "And what did I say about your eye!?" he scolded.

"Uh, Frisk. A little help here!" Flowey called, way too close to the shorter skeleton for his comfort.

Unperturbed or ignorant to his brother's impending act of great LOVE, Papyrus read on. "Step 5: Only give rewards for good behavior."

"THAT'S IT, I-! Wait a-" Sans gave a brief pause, his ire momentarily forgotten, and then snatched the book away, causing Papyrus to protest. Skimming the contents, his hands began to shake as he groused with gritted teeth. "This… is… a FUCKING DOG TRAINING MANUAL!" He threw the book at the wall and summoned his gaster blasters to incinerate the cursed book, caring not for the monsters that were nearly caught in the wake of his attack.

He pinned his brother with an accusatory look as Frisk, who'd grabbed Flowey and hid under the booth before the blast, peeked her head back up above the table. She glanced at the charred mess of the diner and then between the two brothers wearily.

"What hell are you trying to pull!?" Sans demanded.

Papyrus looked insulted. "I have it from an extremely reputable source that the information is still completely legitimate. The human society is a place unknown to us. But it's simple enough to gather that humans are too weak and soft to possibly share the same sorts of dating protocol that we have." It was such basic logic Papyrus couldn't believe he even had to explain it. And Sans had even obliterated the book!

"But she's not a goddamn _dog_!" Sans argued as several of the furrier patrons of the bar turned to the skeleton with bared teeth and rumbling growls. "Piss off! You want some of this!?" A shadow fell over his face. The red magic in his hand and eye burned bright red as he turned his gaster blasters to loom behind him. His threat was met with soft whining and cowering which served to mitigate his foul mood just the slightest bit. "That's right. I thought so…"

"Did you or did you not pick up a stray human to have as your companion?" Papyrus boomed with a stern tone at Sans' tantrum.

"What? Are you saying I should put a collar on her and take her home!?" Sans bellowed, staggered by his brother's stupidity.

"Of course not! That would be ridiculous." Papyrus crossed his arms and shook his head. "This is just what I was talking about. You have no idea how to engage with the human and, therefore, must learn how to treat them properly lest you drive them away with your violence! It is my duty as your brother and the human's friend that I facilitate your date and direct you with the proper conduct the human expects of you as a decent monster being!"

"But I'm not a decent monster being!" Sans' hands grasped the air like he wanted to strangle something. Mostly likely Papyrus even though it wouldn't do anything except make Sans feel better.

"And that's exactly where I come in! Now step 6..." Papyrus materialized an exact copy of the same book from somewhere and began to read.

His rage going like a flame that had burned itself out, Sans groaned, dropping his face down on the table. There was no getting through to Papyrus. At that moment their food arrived, prompting Sans to turn his head towards the meal. "Thank god, I'm gonna need some mustard for this," he murmured, leaning his forearm on the table as he grasped the yellow condiment.

"Uh… why don't you keep coaching him, Papyrus?" Frisk suggested, standing from the booth. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air. I mean, wouldn't it spoil the date if I listened in on you guys?" She grabbed Flowey who fell over the side of his pot, thanking the gods that she was taking him with.

"Excellent point, Human! Once I've thoroughly versed him in the proper comportment of dealing with humans, you may resume the date!" Papyrus said with confidence.

Momentarily glimpsing Sans' desperate look of "Don't leave me alone with him" Frisk headed outside, exiting at the sound of Sans' long suffering groans as Papyrus continued to read the dog training manual.

"I don't know which is worse. The fat one's puns or the tall one's stupidity," Flowey complained once they were outside and out of earshot (or range of whatever they used to hear) of the skeletons.

Frisk giggled. "I thought it was kind of funny." She began to walk through the nearby surrounding forest. It was cold outside and she needed to keep her limbs from going numb somehow before she decided to head back.

"Funny?" Flowey looked at her incredulously. "Frisk, on one hand you have the sadistic, rage-a-holic psychopath that threatens you at the drop of a hat and on the other you have an obnoxious, gullible moron with the brain capacity of a hamster." Who also deemed plants as distractions!

"… Well, it is cold out here. So, I can see Papyrus being a bit of a numbskul-"

"I AM SERIOUS!" Flowey snapped, sighing in consternation when Frisk responded with a pout, feigning hurt.

"Look, it's not that I don't understand where you're coming from," Frisk spoke in a sober tone, all humor lost. "This place is… harsh. And people get hurt." Her enemies had called her naïve and ignorant, but Frisk felt she understood the Underground better than most of them. "And then they try to get strong so that they won't get hurt again. But the people they once were, before that happened… I think they're still there. They're just scared to come out. Like Sans." She smiled imaging him inside, agonized as Papyrus read to him, likely drowning his brother's advice out with mustard. Despite all his threats and appearing to lose his patience at any moment, Sans hadn't made any real move to harm his brother.

"He's pretty hot-headed, forceful and barely knows how to deal with anything without breaking something, but I've seen it in him again and again. The good person underneath that I know he is." She'd only glimpsed it a few times and knew that Sans still had a ways to go, but he wasn't hopeless. No one was. "I just can't give up on him or anyone else just because they had to change to survive." In fact, she didn't give up _because_ they had had to change to survive. "If someone can go from good to bad, why not the other way around?"

Apparently, Flowey wasn't following her well as he gave her a look, pondering if she was right in the head. The Underground had been like this for as long as he could remember. It was every monster for themselves and it was a good day if you got by without anyone picking a fight with you. The world she was talking about was about as real as the prophecy of an angel appearing and emptying the Underground. It was a nice thought to think that maybe everything was corrupt because of unfortunate circumstances and that no one really wanted to be the way they were. But in the end, all it really amounted to was just that. A nice thought. And sooner or later reality would hit and blindside you until could barely stand.

"How you can think like this, even after he tried to kill you… was _smiling_ when you were about to die…" Flowey cringed at the memory as he looked down, looking more wilted and bitter than Frisk had ever seen. "Isn't that just too much to overlook?" He didn't say these things to dishearten Frisk, but he feared she would one day walk straight towards her death with open arms at a time when the resets and saves were gone.

"Feelings are contagious, Flowey." She wanted to hug the flower, but could only clutch his pot tightly. "Bad ones breed bad ones and good ones breed good ones. This place has been overrun with bad ones for so long. Isn't it time that that changes?" she reasoned back with a wistful smile. She wished he could see it her way if only to lift the weight he clearly felt. There was something deeper burdening him, but she didn't want to push him.

Frisk didn't think she could change an entire world, but she'd be ashamed if she couldn't honestly say she had tried.

"I can't understand you sometimes Frisk… I just can't understand…" Flowey said quietly, staring at the ground with a removed, pensive expression. "Why you're being… so nice to everyone…" he explained. He clearly meant more than just her waving off the skeleton brothers' over-the-top behavior. Even in a world that was not like theirs, where it wasn't "kill or be killed," such compassion was unnatural.

Exhaling a white breath somberly, Frisk searched for a way to ease Flowey's mind, but came up short.

"Did you see Sans in there?" The voice prompted Frisk abruptly to dive for a tree and plant herself against the side of it instinctively as she peered around to see where the sound had come from. Engaging a monster right now was not something she welcomed right now, but there was never a time when she did.

A horned monster wearing a red cloak and a mouse with a black and red scarf stood together conversing in hushed tones.

"With that weird looking monster holding that flower?" asked the horned monster.

"Yeah. I wonder what he's up to," the mouse pondered.

"The last time I saw him chummy with anyone the guy ended up frozen in an ice cube floating down the river. Whatever it is, she's gotta be in for a bad time." It grinned as if imaging her fate.

"I thought about that too… thing is, I'm not sure if she was a monster." The mouse paused as if debating whether to continue. "I don't know about you, but I've never seen one like that before."

"What? No way." The horned monster shook its head dismissively, but asked. "How would you know anyway?" He gave the impression of raising an eyebrow.

"See, earlier I was in Waterfall," the rodent began. "And these echo flowers were saying some weird stuff. Like this one lady was screaming, "How the hell can humans be so weak but so fast?""

The horned monster looked skeptical, but ventured, "Okay, if she is a human, then why was Sans on a date with her?"

"Why is he ever nice to anyone?" The mouse shot back. "He's probably gaining her trust for now. Only a human would be stupid enough to fall for that trick and who knows what humans can do if you're not careful? Plus, he does always get kicks from messing with people's heads," he reminded the horned monster.

"Hmph. I'll believe it when I see it and the barrier's broken." The monster likely would've crossed its arms if it had any.

"Wanna bet? 20 gold says she's a human," the mouse said, his mischievous grin peeking out from under his scarf.

"Fine. 20 gold says he's just "pranking" a newb." Believing there was a human in the Underground meant believing that they were close to getting out. And after years of despair, hope was a feign concept.

"You're on."

Frisk frowned and quietly pushed off the tree, slipping away from the two. Training her eyes down at her feet impassively, as if reading her mind, Flowey spoke. "You know what he's capable of. Do you really wanna go back in there?"

Frisk had been confident that the date would work. She thought that all Sans needed was some good food, some jokes and a friend. He'd let her go like everyone else had and she could keep trying to find a way out. But what if he was just playing along for now, like Undyne? The human hadn't once suspected Nydeun and had ended up with multiple spears in her heart once her back was turned.

She hadn't held it against the fish woman, but she'd learned that lying and deception were apparently natural parts of the Underground where no one was happy trapped by the barrier. And with the little she could offer, was Sans the type of person that would ever be happy with just that? She'd admitted that circumstances had altered those in the Underground. If she thought that old habits would die so easily perhaps she just as naïve as everyone had said.

And if Sans still intended to stop her, maybe running while she could be the smart choice. It had worked so far whenever the monsters she encountered were relentlessly chasing her. Most didn't have the persistence to follow her for long. She'd gotten lucky with Papyrus and Undyne. Maybe she shouldn't chance her luck so much now. She'd almost been to castle when Sans had stopped her and that meant only Asgore would be left.

The cloudy breath leaving her mouth ceased as a shadow fell over her face. She took a sharp, chilly inhale and the next moment burst into sprint, her footsteps crunching with every step as it started to snow.

* * *

Thanks:

(1) Thank you to jpangel97 for suggesting Papyrus come on the scene. It turned out better than I thought it would. Or worse, depending on the perspective *cough*Sans'*cough*.

(2) I also want to thank Kaithlyn FireBreather so much for making my first ever story fan art! There's a link in my profile to those interested.

* * *

Disclaimer: Papyrus' dating advice/dog training manual is entirely fictitious and silly, made up by me based on a few google searches. They are not intended to be taken seriously. Practice at your own risk. Results may vary.

Author's Note: Let me just say, I'm so happy that people are enjoying this story and can't believe how well people liked my silly little extras from the last chapter. They just didn't fit in the story or were super ridiculous so I thought I'd just tack them on at the end, but people actually thought they were funny!

If all goes as planned, the next chapter will finish up this little arc, but I'm so in love with writing this story and seeing it grow more and more in my head the longer that I write it that I might keep going. Likely there won't be any long running plots, but I could see going into little snippets and adventures following.

Lastly, here's another little extra I came up with. Not as crazy as my last ones, but oh well.

* * *

Extra:

"I can't understand why the human refused my aid. We are "friends" that's practically the same as an alliance!" The tall skeleton crossed his arms bitterly, glaring at the offending tea in front of him. "But much much closer and less scheming murder and treachery on the inside," he added. After all, how could he let his friend traverse the perilous journey to the castle without protection?

But the human had insisted. "I can't let you go with me," she'd said stubbornly. "As your friend, you need to trust me on this. I'll be okay."

Letting her waltz into danger in order to be a good friend didn't make any sense. But she had more experience in the matter of friendship and he had begrudgingly followed suit. At least she'd taken his phone number and promised she'd call if she needed help.

The monster across from him sighed. How was it that whenever he had any sort of problems she was his go-to? At first she'd slammed the door in his face, but his persistence taught her that if she didn't deal with him now, she'd be dealing with him at an ungodly hour. Even if she tried to beat him out, he only considered it an impromptu training session and still unloaded his troubles on her while they fought. She was stronger, of course, but man could he last a long damn time. It was all good when she was actually training with him, but at three in the morning it was a special kind of hell.

"She was probably scared of you. You have to treat humans more gently, honey," Undyne said before handing him a book. "Here, if you follow this then everything will work out. It's all about getting inside of their heads." It would also keep him busy and she wouldn't have to give him a real solution. Thankfully, she'd learned so long as Papyrus considered the problem solved, he would go away.

"But… isn't this a book for training dogs?" Papyrus questioned her curiously, though he still flipped through it.

"Dogs and humans are definitely different, but I still think the principles are the same," Undyne replied smoothly with a shrug. "While I'm thinking of it, take two in case something happens to the first one." The second book was too powerful to drop or destroy. She learned the hard way that Papyrus needed at least two sets of something. His exuberance and potential flailing had been a death sentence to a few items she'd entrusted him with.

"I was unaware of this. Thank you, Undyne. Perhaps Sans could benefit from this. I've seen him with the human on occasion and if _I_ ' _m_ not sure what to do, I cringe to think how my brother fairs."

Holding back a maniacal laugh at the thought, Undyne said with a sickly sweet smile. "Don't even mention it, honey."


	7. Chapter 7

"Step 29: Taking responsibility as an owner. It is your job not only take care of them properly but also hold them accountable for unwanted behavior and deal punishment as necessary-SANS! Are you even listening!?"

Sans had effectively tuned out his brother (an impressive feat given Papyrus' natural loud volume) and distracted himself by eating. He'd gone through three mustards both as a topping for his food and straight, having finished his burger and now stared at the remains of his fries.

Never in a million years would he admit it, but he'd been a bit glad that Papyrus had showed up on his date. There was no mistake that it pissed him off that it had been interrupted and Papyrus' advice had left him mortified, but being alone with his brother had helped him focus himself in a way that had been impossible when Frisk was around. Her jokes had helped take off the edge, but he'd still been nervous. He was acutely aware of her every reaction, anxious and then relieved again and again when he was assured she seemed to be enjoying herself.

Sans didn't want to scare her away and knew he wasn't the most friendly guy around. Despite this, his feelings were irrational as even with Papyrus crashing the party, he felt fairly confident that Frisk wasn't at all perturbed, taking it in stride as usual. Plus, he'd seen her in more stressful, precarious situations and she hadn't even batted an eye to his astonishment.

To be honest, though, Sans didn't know what to make of this new self-consciousness and concern when it came to what Frisk thought. He'd always been observant of her before as she progressed through the Underground, but he hadn't given a damn about how she felt and his reasons for watching her so keenly were very different before her confession.

He'd nearly been asleep in his spot in the tall trees near the Ruins, one leg dangling over the side of the branch as his back rested against the trunk. He'd thought it'd be just another lazy day, but his drooping eyes had snapped open at the creaking sound of the door that was obviously out of use, drawing his attention. Then she'd exited from the Ruins. He'd been distant at first, but interested to see the human the old lady on the other side of the door had told him about.

 _When she first emerged from the entrance where he should have been posted, she glanced around wearily and then looked down at something in her arms that he didn't recognize at first. He did his impression of raising an eyebrow when she talked to it and she took a step out to expose the yellow, potted flower. Oh yeah. He'd been told she wasn't alone. The thing had helped her the entire time she was journeying through the Ruins apparently._

 _Only a few steps out of the threshold and into the Underground, she turned back to look behind her. There was a mien of longing on her face before the flower spoke, seeming to try to comfort her. With a shake of her head and a sniffle as if she'd been crying, she wiped at her face and pressed on with a purpose._

 _Matching her pace by traversing the branches in the forest, he could see her taking in the eerie silence surrounding her with apprehension that made him grin. Fresh meat was hard to come by and he certainly wouldn't waste it. After she'd made it a few steps beyond a branch she'd carefully stepped around, he lifted his hand. The stick began to glow red and, with a precision he rarely cared to use, he snapped the thick branch with a sudden burst of pressure._

 _As expected, the crack echoed loudly and caused the girl and plant-thing to jump and whir around in alarm. Sans had to cover his mouth and hold back a bark of laughter as the color drained from her face and the girl strode forward even more quickly than before._

 _Through with playing in the darkness like the boogeyman, Sans headed for the path right behind her, making sure his steps were extra loud and crunchy in the snow. He wondered how long it would take her to break into a run or whether she would try to confront him just as he watched her pace wane upon reaching the bridge. She still didn't turn to face him, so she was either frozen in fright, gutsy or stupid._

 _When he was a breath's length away from her and she still didn't turn around, rigid and shivering slightly either from the cold or fear, he spoke in an octave deeper and gruffer than his usual tone. "Human," he rumbled, watching her arms press closer to her sides in a telltale sign of trepidation. "Don't you know how to greet a new pal?"_

 _The only move she made was the occasional shiver as the wind blew by and Sans' natural grin widened._

 _"Turn around and shake my hand," he prompted her. If that didn't get her then he considered teleporting in front of her for a split second before reappearing back behind her where he'd been when she spun around to see if he was still there._

 _However, she twisted her neck to look at him, her body following albeit, stiffly. He saw the uncertain terror in her eyes that he'd instilled as he stuck out his hand for her to shake._

 _A scream echoed through the woods and when the human tried to retrieve her hand with a sudden tug Sans held their grip for just a moment longer before letting her go. She likely would've held her heart to chest to see if it was still beating if one hand wasn't holding the flower pot and the other wasn't stinging numbly from the shock she just took. Instead, she held the pot closer to her as the flower appeared to panic, fretting over why the human had shrieked._

 _"Heheh. The old joy buzzer in the hand trick. It's_ always _funny," Sans mused to himself even though he was sure the human would disagree. She was shaking her hand out furiously, likely to get the feeling back in it as she looked at Sans as if he'd betrayed her, her eyes teary from the unexpected jolt that clearly frightened her more than Sans' mind games had. He hadn't even set the buzzer to lethal, just painful._

 _"You… you scared me to death," she panted as she shifted on her feet to face him fully._

 _"To death?" He gave her an odd look. "Naw, you'd know if I did that. See, I only knock em' dead with my jokes." He grinned. Before she could reply, he added, "Anyway, you're a human, right? That's hilarious." He snickered as she clenched her fingers to get the circulation going, giving him a resentful pout. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. I'm actually supposed to be on the hunt for humans right now, but… ya know…" She frowned in confusion. "I don't really care about capturing anybody." He shrugged, but she only seemed more confused. Maybe the old lady had warned her._

 _"Now, my bro, Papyrus? He's a human-hunting_ fanatic _." The girl and flower both looked distressed at that, so he went on. "Actually, I think that's him over there." He looked into the distance, causing the girl to turn and do the same, squinting, though she saw no one. "I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy." He gave her back a hearty push and she stumbled forward. "My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone." Somehow it hadn't connected with Papyrus that few had his height or broad build and that the bars wouldn't stop them just because Papryus himself had had trouble getting through it._

 _"I don't know about this guy," Sans heard the flower speak up._

 _"But what else should we do?" She didn't know if they would fare so well with a human-hunting fanatic. And to be fair, Sans was on the friendlier side of the monsters they'd met in her opinion despite his tormenting practical jokes._

 _Before the conversation could go further, Sans directed the girl. "Quick, behind that conveniently-placed cell." He gestured to a large cell in the middle of the clearing they came upon and the girl froze. "What?" he asked innocently._

 _She gave him a look of disbelief, pointing at it and then at herself like the idea was preposterous._

 _"Trust me, that's the last place he'll be lookin' for ya. After all, it's always empty. What do you say?" he suggested with a smile._

 _The girl shook her head insistently before looking around for a better hiding spot. Barring venturing into the seemingly endless woods the only other place was an oddly shaped lamp that was way too short for her to hide behind._

 _Sans chuckled. "Just kiddin', kid." She didn't decide to run, so he'd help her out this time. "Go behind that pile of snow there." He pointed to the unusually tall lump. It would still be a tight fit to conceal her whole body, but it was better than nothing. The human managed to dive behind it, curling up into a ball just before Papyrus showed up._

 _"Sup, bro?" he casually greeted the taller skeleton as the girl cautiously peeked out to get a look at his brother. She might have to watch out for him down the road._

 _"You know what "sup," brother!" Papyrus began in his usual preparatory tone for giving Sans an ensuing tirade. "It's been eight days and you haven't recalibrated your traps! You just hang around outside your station!" he derided with undisguised disgust, pointing at his brother accusingly. "What are you even doing?!"_

 _"Staring at this lump of snow." Sans cast his gaze over at the lump as the girl held her breath, her heart beating wildly. This Papyrus did not seem to be the amiable type and she cringed at the thought of him finding her. "It's really cool. Do you wanna look?"_

 _Snow flew into the air as a line of bones jutted out from the ground, stabbing the lump and demolishing the pile of snow along with everything in the path of Papyrus' attack. Giving the remains of the object of his brother's distraction a contemptuous look, Papyrus lowered his hand and replied._

 _"No! I don't have time for that!" he shouted impatiently with clenched fists. "What if a human comes through here?"_

 _"Maybe the lump next to it will help you," Sans offered as the girl trembled behind the second, untouched lump that had been beside the first. She was more than a little shaken by the violent attack that had come so close to impaling her while her flower friend had pretty much fainted on the spot in fright (if flowers could faint)._

 _"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING!" Papyrus bellowed in aggravation. "I, the Great Papyrus, must be ready for a human, for once I capture them, becoming a royal guard is a given! All that I deserve will be within my reach!" Sans could tell that his brother was starting to get lost in his visions of grandeur as he grinned smugly at his thoughts before snapping out of it. "N-Nonetheless! Your laziness is inexcusable!"_

 _"Hey, no need to rib me so much," Sans grinned._

 _"Sans…" Papyrus warned him._

 _"When I work…"_

 _"For once, can you not-?"_

 _"I work down to the bone, don't I?" Sans lifted his arms with his palms facing up._

 _"… Just make sure you recalibrate your traps," Papyrus simmered with disgruntled defeat turning to leave._

 _"Sure thing, bro. It's a promise. It's not like I would ever fibula-ike that," he called._

 _"STOP BEFORE I COME BACK AND HURT YOU!" Papyrus threatened in the distance._

 _Sans sniggered as his brother left, but ceased when he heard giggling overlapping his own laughter. With a glance at the snow pile and only a moment of hesitation, he spoke with amusement. "Liked that, did ya?" There was only one other person he knew who had enjoyed his jokes right off the bat. He could see the old lady warming up to her just for that alone._

 _When the giggling stopped as if she'd been caught, he shook his head, his perma-grin just a bit wider than normal. "Ok. You can come out now."_

 _He was surprised to see her crawling out from behind the snow lump with a bright smile on her face, both affable and relieved. "Thank you for helping me, Sans," she said gratefully as the haggard flower in her arms guffawed at her, clearly not sharing the sentiment for the skeleton._

 _"Huh!?" he gawked, Sans feeling similarly. That wasn't what he would consider "helping," but he supposed it was more than she should've expected from anyone else had they been in his position._

 _"My name is Frisk and this is Flowey." She ignored the outburst of her companion and pushed forward the reluctant plant who just stared at the smiley skeleton with open suspicion._

 _"Just don't get used to it, kid. What my bro did to that snow is nothing compared to what half of the monsters down here will do you to ya," he advised her._

 _She blinked and he almost expected her to ask him what he meant and mentally prepared to give her the gory details all for not. "I'm not a kid," Frisk told him with delayed bewilderment before a small pout appeared on her face. What was with monsters? First Toriel had called her "my child," though it was a little easier to wave off since Toriel seemed the mothering type, and now this skeleton was calling her "kid."_

 _"You're not?" he asked, genuinely surprised. It had been a while since he'd seen a human, but now he did recall that they'd been much shorter than she was. But given the variances within monsters he hadn't given it a second thought. Some monster kids barely a few years old could tower over a fully grown adult and vice versa, neither being quite strange. This wasn't even taking their shape and species into account. "Whoops. Sorry about that, kid." He grinned when she gave him a look acknowledging that he was messing with her, but she was still annoyed all the same so he kept it up. "Well, kid, you oughta get going," he advised. "But how about one more handshake before you hit the road? I'll even throw in a joke."_

He hadn't gauged much from their first meeting. She really was just a simple human who refused to fight. But she wasn't cut down like he thought she would be. What he'd witnessed from then on felt like he was seeing the impossible. Monsters were giving up their fight with her, the human girl was managing to dodge long enough to talk them out of it or just escaped those after her by a hair. She'd always been relieved after, but there was a certain knowing look in her eyes and from the flower as well that just wasn't natural. It was like she'd lived it before, but only then overcame the obstacle standing in her way.

There was a certain amount of disgust he'd harbored towards her for this, the mystery of it aside. For being able to act and live above the rules of their world was unfair. Mercy was not a trait that was meant to survive. The strong and ruthless prevailed and the weak were subjugated or killed. That rule alone was the one area where they were all even, except for her. In the beginning, he'd gotten a deep amount of satisfaction to see her thrown down, hurt and barely holding onto her life. But she'd never given up and took the damage like it was her price for what she was doing and she accepted it fully.

When he'd fought her, he'd reasoned that he could hit harder than anyone. When it came to power, despite their HP, he knew she was no match for him, but he didn't just want to kill her. He needed to break her. He had an inexplicable urge to teach her how their world worked and assimilate her to it. The urge had burned so strongly then, but even now as he dwelled on it, he didn't feel the same desire. There was something else, different but not entirely dissimilar, nudging at him, but he didn't know what.

"I swear. In one ear and out the other," Papyrus gripped. "Although we don't actually have ears… have you at least learned something with all the information I've bestowed upon you?"

"Hm?" Sans glanced over at Papyrus with a bored expression. He hadn't been listening the entire time, but he was almost certain this was the first time his brother had even realized he was zoning out or stopped reading from the manual to pay Sans any attention. "Oh yeah, bro. I think I've gotten all the info I can take. In fact, I'm gonna take a page from step 30 and have that change of scenery." Sans zipped out of existence from the booth then as Papyrus nodded approvingly.

"Excellent choice, Sans! Using step 30…" He paused and spoke to the empty booth. "The one I never read to you…"

…

Sans sighed in relief once he was outside. "Now to grab Frisk and…" The skeleton paused as he noted that his shoes were almost completely sunken into the snow. It was light and fluffy, meaning it had fallen recently, but when he'd been at Grillby's earlier the snow line had been hardly a centimeter or two high.

It was at that moment that it occurred to Sans how long it'd actually been since Frisk had left for some fresh air. It was snowing thickly and the wind was rather strong compared to what it normally was. Wouldn't she have gotten cold by now and come back inside? He knew she couldn't endure the cold as long as he could, especially since she wasn't dressed for it.

Glancing around, there was no sign of her, just the usual suspects hanging around outside of the diner. Any footprints would be long gone, covered by the snow. The facts were that his date had left, promising to come back, but was now missing when the weather would logically drive her back inside and he had no idea where she'd gone. But that didn't mean he was out of options.

"Hey, bear!" He called to the furry monster standing outside the front of Grillby's. He wore only a red sweat top with a thin black strip running down each arm, hardly bothered at all by Snowdin's climate. He turned his head, giving a simple nod to the skeleton.

"Sans? What do you want?" he asked in a low, casual tone. They never really talked unless Sans wanted something. Everyone at Grillby's had varying degrees of begrudging respect for the skeleton brothers, the shorter one especially, so Sans often got what he wanted without a fuss.

"You seen a girl leave Grillby's earlier?" Sans asked, approaching and stopping at just the right point where he wouldn't have to crane his neck to look up at the brown bear. Looking up at someone gave the impression of superiority that Sans didn't like anyone having over him.

"Gonna have to be a little more specific," he chuckled, looking around. "I've only been here for a little while."

"Brown hair, holding a yellow flower in a pot with a face on it," Sans elaborated bluntly. She'd be kind of hard to miss.

"A face on the pot or the flower?" the bear frowned, genuinely curious and intrigued. There was a vast variety of monsters in the Underground, but that would be odd even to him.

"The flower," Sans growled lowly, impatient. "Look, have you seen her or not?"

The bear shrugged and answered dismissively. "I dunno, man. Why you asking anyway?"

The gleam in his eye was way too interested for Sans' taste. It was natural that anyone would jump at the chance to find a weakness of another monster since their world was one giant power struggle, but Sans wasn't having it.

"Oh, you know me. I always feel like I can _bear_ my problems to you." Sans threw his arms out, shrugging.

"A-Ah! Sans!" When the skeleton had raised his arms slightly, his left hand and the bear's soul had taken on a red aura and the monster had been flung high into the air where he flailed as if he could swim through the it to get his bearings.

As if he hadn't heard the bear, Sans continued. "I know I can be a little over _bear_ ing when I ask for your help, but I know that you'll _always_ be honest and stay out of my business, won't ya, buddy chum pal friend?" He lifted his head to pin the bear with a malicious grin. "Otherwise, I might _bear_ ly be able to stop myself from un _bear_ ing a little of my stress on you. Of course, I know you can take it like a champ."

"L-Look, Sans! I'm serious. I haven't seen anyone like that!" The bear insisted as he rose higher with the smallest lift of Sans' finger.

"You look a little tense," Sans observed with concern and began walking, towing the bear with him as if pulling an invisible leash. "Maybe some heat might relax you. How's about a Hotland lava dive, my friend? Or better yet, why don't I take you for a dip in the river? I'm sure that'll take the edge off. After all, I couldn't _bear_ to let a friend hang out to freeze without me around to _bear_ witness." He shook his head like such a notion were ridiculous.

"Haha! You're so funny Sans!" He laughed nervously, trailing when he realized Sans' pace wasn't slowing. "Come on, Sans! You know I wouldn't lie to you." He had a point. Most knew not to play games with Sans otherwise he'd take the liberty of having a good time with them in return.

"I dunno. You really look like you could use that dip, my amigo. I even know the perfect way to make sure you stay nice and floaty on your way down the river. Still trying to decide where to go," he admitted thoughtfully. It wouldn't hurt to squeeze him just a little bit more.

"I saw her," an armless child spoke up then, diverting Sans attention to the bear's immense relief. "She was walking around talking with that flower." The boy in the red and black striped sweater appeared skeptical of what he saw even as he recounted it.

"Oh, really? And then what?" Sans dropped the bear with disinterest, kindly letting go of his grip on the soul once he was only a few feet above the ground.

As the child recalled what they saw, witnessing the human running frantically like a bat out of hell, Sans mouth turned down into a deep scowl and his expression turned dark. The red magic burning in his left eye emphasized his mood as the monster kid and recovering bear backed up cautiously. The red light of Sans' magic only served to make their surroundings appear more dark and cast the skeleton's expression in an ominous shadow. They could hear bone grinding against bone as he clenched his fists and teeth together tightly.

He'd been skeptical at first. Then he'd been practically reeling despite his focused rage. Then he'd been frantic, furiously grasping at how to deal with it in his numbing mind. Control the situation that seemed out of his hand. Then came the soul-crushing pain that he couldn't even begin to describe, tearing at him from within. Emotions inside of him were beating the insides of his skull like a pinball machine and he'd begun to see red with both of his eyes instead of just one.

"Tell me, kid," Sans asked as his head rose, growling viciously. Both were familiar with that look of Sans' and it told them that someone was going to die. "Which. Way?"

* * *

Author's Note: Please don't kill me.

So I lied. This is not the last chapter of the arc. I don't know how, but it just got longer and longer as I wrote it. Anyway, stuff happens and promises should never be made. That is all. But if you want to get updates (if I make any) on the story such as changes like these, check out my deviantart: fangal6. Falling Under is also posted there.

So Sans and Frisk's first meeting-! Was strongly based on a comic. What else is new about my writing!? Nyublackneko is the creator and one of my favorite Undertale creators of all time. This chapter is dedicated to her with all my love! Give her stuff a look and you won't be sorry! Link to her and the comic used this chapter will be in my profile.


	8. Chapter 8

Her heavy pants created continuous puffs of air as she ran. She had to escape quickly while she still could. The wind chilled her thoroughly and made her body resist moving forward, but she hoped that it and the falling snow would cover her tracks. Once or twice she thought about going back, but she didn't think she could at this point. It was either forward or getting caught and the latter wouldn't do her any good. If she did that she might as well be back where she started, dealing with endless attacks, murderous intent and a stubbornness that wouldn't be swayed no matter what she did.

"You okay, Flowey?" Frisk asked. She'd tried to shield him from the cold even though she was starting to feel a bit numb herself, but with her flimsy clothes it didn't do much good. There was a reason she had tried to rush her way through Snowdin when she first arrived.

"Y-Yeah," Flowey nodded despite feeling some frost start to form in the soil of his pot. If it were any more damp he was sure that his roots would've frozen over by now. "Just k-keep going, Frisk. We have to get out of h-here."

Though he was sure that the running was keeping her warmer than she would have been, Frisk was clearly getting worn down. Her fingers were tinted purple near the tips and the deep snow out in the woods was causing her to half drag her feet as she walked. Her feet were probably soaked in her boots. He'd suggested they hide so she could rest, but she'd refused.

"We stick out way too much." In a climate of white and green trees, her purple and blue striped sweater was practically a target on her back. "If we hide, we'll be found sooner." It was always like that in the Underground. Hiding made her a sitting duck but running left her fatigued. At times she would try her hand at going into battle and dodging the attacks, but she'd always get hit and only had so many healing items since she rarely came by any gold. The more she fought the more she knew how to handle certain inhabitants, but not all tricks worked the exact same way on every monster, even species she'd encountered before. With fighting a firm no-go, hiding rarely helping her and running exhausting her, Frisk had needed to do her best to make progress forward rather than linger about.

It had been similar in the Ruins, though living with Toriel hadn't been like that. Given, the woman had been a little extreme at first, leaving Frisk to navigate the Ruins on her own, but things seemed to have changed once she'd met her once again. Frisk believed she was good at reading people. The monsters in the Ruins were more territorial than irrationally hostile and she'd thought maybe if she showed Toriel she was strong enough to survive on her own then she might help her find a way out.

 _"Are you gonna fight me too?" Frisk had asked sadly once she'd arrived in front of Toriel's house. It wouldn't surprise her since everything else she had met treated her like some sort of enemy. Plus, how Toriel had chosen to part ways with Frisk wasn't too inspiring either._

 _The woman at least seemed calm as she stared at Frisk with a scrutinizing gaze. "No," she finally answered. "I believe you have been through enough for the day." She then suggested, "Unless you'd like to. My leaving you like that was unkind, after all." Despite her offer, Toriel didn't appear even slightly perturbed by the prospect of battle._

 _"Uh, no…" Frisk gave her an odd, tired look, shaking her head. "I just want to rest," she admitted._

 _"Then come inside. You may take refuge here for now."_

Under her stern, critical demeanor the goat monster had been kind. Frisk had been shown a room that Toriel offered to her for as long as she was in the Ruins and, after promptly passing out on the bed, was awoken by clinks and clangs coming from the kitchen. There was a subtle but ever present motherly air about Toriel. She'd had a passion for educating as well as fond gleam in her eye when watching Frisk eat what she'd made. The snail pie had been unusual and foreign to her taste buds but not inedible. And when Frisk managed to consume the entire helping, the woman had been mildly surprised.

 _"Um, do I have something on my face?" Frisk asked, using a napkin to wipe at her mouth when Toriel stared at her curiously. Flowey could hardly look at Frisk while she ate and probably would have puked if it were possible for him to do so._

 _"No. You don't, my child," she assured Frisk. "It's just that snails are… an acquired taste. Most people turn their noses up at it." The woman took a sip of her tea calmly regarding the girl in a way that was reminiscent of one watching the silly and curious behavior and idiosyncrasies of wildlife from the comfort of their front porch. "I'm quite surprised you ate it at all, to be honest. Let alone every single bite."_

 _"Oh…" Frisk suddenly felt much like a new pet you fed the undesirable table bits to. "Well, it has an interesting flavor… and aftertaste," she commented. The taste wasn't so bad as knowing what it was and the only thing that was keeping her from hurling was blocking out that knowledge. "Thank you for making it for me."_

 _As if an invisible line had been crossed, Toriel's eyes snapped up to her and she lowered the teacup from her lips as the conversation trailed off into a pregnant pause. The human didn't move an inch, but met the goat's gaze with a concerned blink._

 _"Uh, I'll just head back to my roo-" Frisk mumbled before Toriel stood, somehow without making a sound as her chair skidded over the ground, something Frisk had failed at earlier._

 _"Dessert is in order since you had such a small slice for dinner," Toriel decreed smoothly, leaving no room for argument. Exiting with a regal finesse, she returned shortly after with two plates of another slice of some pie and placed one in front of Frisk before retreating to her own seat._

 _"I hope you don't mind cinnamon or butterscotch." Toriel showed the first sign of nervousness since Frisk had met her, subtle as it was, as she gauged the human's reaction to the dessert. "It's all I had on such short notice."_

 _Relieved it wasn't a mashed cricket tart or something equally unusual, Frisk took an eager bite and moaned with pleasure at the first taste. She caught herself then and looked to Toriel to see if the woman would give her another disparaging stare. She'd done just the same earlier when Frisk had slouched too much as she walked claiming, "There's never an excuse for bad manners." But instead of a scolding, Frisk was met with a glimpse of a tiny smile that was quickly covered as Toriel took a small sip of her beverage. Frisk hadn't seen that look since she'd flirted with Toriel using corny jokes._

 _"You have the manners of a child," Toriel commented quietly once she'd regained her composure, not without a slight hint of fondness in her tone as she began to eat her own piece in a much more dignified manner._

 _Swallowing, Frisk giggled. "But it's really good, Mom."_

 _Despite Toriel's unwavering air of refined poise, Frisk was fairly certain she spotted a hint of a flush underneath the white fur on her face._

Things had definitely been good with Toriel, but something had been calling to her, drawing her to go beyond the Ruins. She'd been scared, but also exhilarated when she first stepped out into the Underground. It felt like something she was meant to see even though she hadn't known what she'd be facing. This indescribable feeling had guided her forward completely during her exploration of the Underground and one might call it curiosity, but Frisk knew curiosity alone wouldn't have made her push Toriel as she had when they'd fought. Frisk had been confused as to why Toriel would try to hurt her when she wanted her to stay, but she'd eventually realized that fighting might have been the only way she thought would make Frisk understand.

At first the goat woman had been in disbelief, denying Frisk's desire to leave, firmly stating Frisk was confused and ignorant and that if the girl just waited, the urge to enter the Underground would fade. Then she'd grown angry asking Frisk why she could possibly want to leave the Ruins when it was a paradise compared to the rest of the Underground. Then she'd calmed a bit, reasoning with Frisk, promising to take good care of her and telling her of all the dreadful things and monsters she would face that Frisk now knew hadn't been exaggerated. Finally, she'd looked so hurt and depressed, like an old wound had reopened and throbbed with fresh pain. That had ended it all as her expression turned colder and harder than stone.

"Go then," she relented, sparing Frisk as the battle ended. "If you truly wish to leave the Ruins, I will not stop you. However, when you leave, do not _ever_ come back." When had Toriel approached, looking straight ahead instead of at Frisk, the human girl, stunned at first, had pulled at her sleeve in desperation. She didn't want to end it like this. She wanted to tell her that she didn't do this to hurt her or because she thought Toriel couldn't take care of her, but her voice was caught in her throat when Toriel had jerked her arm away from Frisk and taken a few more steps until her back was turned to the human. "Understand now. You are no child of mine. Goodbye," she whispered bitterly and, without another word or looking back, disappeared down the dark hallway.

 _'I chose this. No going back. Ever,'_ Frisk thought grimly as her lips pressed together, pushing her body forward despite her fatigue. The sound of gaining footsteps crunched behind her.

…

"FRISK!" Sans bellowed, his voice not carrying far as the wind swept it away.

He gained no reply except for the howling wind. Wiping at his forehead, he took a brief rest, considering his options and which was most likely to help him find the human. He had no time lose and cursed as he thought back to what that monster kid had said about Frisk.

 _"Well, she started walking around the woods. She looked really worried about something and kind of sad too. Then all of a sudden this group of monsters came up behind her! She must have known them or done something because she took off before they even said anything to her."_

He'd been skeptical at first. There was no way anyone could have tried anything. Not when he was so close by. He'd notice if something was happening since he was always keeping an eye on her. When she'd fought his brother, been chased by Undyne, he was there, watching. He saw every significant confrontation she had, keeping tabs on her. Or at least, he thought he had, but now he was having second thoughts.

Then he'd been practically reeling despite his focused rage. The fact that monsters would dare come after Frisk. He'd kept some away from her before now, reasoning watching the same battles was getting boring since the same things tended to happen. Plus, if they thought they could attack her while he was around, it'd just be a nuisance to him. So he'd thought waving off the pests from her would be it and problem solved (his problem, of course, not Frisk's), but he also knew the more hostile ones that he'd warded off of her had figured out she was human. It looked like he hadn't warded them off well enough because they'd been the ones the monster kid had described.

Then, with this realization, he'd been frantic, furiously grasping at how to deal with it in his numbing mind. Control the situation that seemed out of his hand. She couldn't have gotten far though and there was only so much Underground to search. He'd hoped that played in his favor and not the monsters chasing her.

Then came the soul-crushing pain that he couldn't even begin to describe, tearing at him from within. He could recognize the feeling of worry and dread, but everything else was a mess. One single thought of finding her lying in the snow with lifeless eyes and that flower crying over her had made him feel like he might lose his mind. Emotions inside of him were beating the insides of his skull like a pinball machine and he'd begun to see red with both of his eyes instead of one.

He'd been ten feet away at Grillby's while she'd had monsters biting at her heels. "ShitshitshitshitSHIT!" He was finding it very hard to think straight as he teleported to another location to try and find her. The kid had said Frisk had run deeper into Snowdin, but by now there was no telling how far she might have gotten, if she'd gotten far from her pursuers at all.

"Fun, huh?" he scoffed at himself with a wry laugh when another spot turned up nothing.

He took it back. Watching her run for her life trying to avoid fights was not as fun now as he'd thought it would be or once was. It only made him pissed off the longer he was searching. And in Sans' book, that was enough for him to let off some steam by beating the ever living hell out of every one of the monsters after her. Besides, he was pretty sure they were still on his date and while Papyrus had been horribly misguided, he'd still been right about one thing. Right now, she was his responsibility. It was his job to take care of her. It was his job to protect her.

"Fuck with my date, you fuck with me," he growled darkly, meting out a death sentence.

* * *

Extra:

"But how about one more handshake before you hit the road? I'll even throw in a joke," Sans offered.

When she politely refused the handshake, Sans shrugged. "Suit yourself. Maybe I'll see you up ahead. Just remember that not everyone here is as humerus as me," he warned her before walking off towards the Ruins.

An hour later, Sans was walking by when he saw Frisk fighting with a snowdrake. She was trying to make some puns, but it just got mad at her for stealing its thunder. When it attacked, she dodged, making him roll his eyes at her decision not to fight. He couldn't see her lasting long. "Better learn the way things work here quick, kid."

Half an hour after that, Sans was hanging off to the side when she came by and watched as she was drawn into a fight with Lesser Dog. She tried to pet it, but it only growled when her hand came close despite its tail wagging expectantly whenever she pulled away. At one point, it jumped at her abruptly and she nearly got tackled by the barking monster before jerking to the side. It was actually kind of impressive since the dogs tended to be overactive, fast and unpredictable. When she tried again to pet the growling canine, he tsked. "Gonna lose a hand like that."

Twenty minutes passed before he found her again, but with Shyren, covering her ears as the monster shrieked like a banshee at her in what he heard was what Shyren considered music and saw her HP drop rapidly. Even clearly in agony, she still didn't FIGHT. Instead she tried shrieking back at the "singer" to Sans' bafflement. It wasn't his problem, but, god, was it painful to watch. "Is she an idiot?" he gaped at the scene.

Fifteen minutes later, he spotted Frisk with Jerry as she spared him. "Oh my _gosh_. I'm not gonna fight you if you don't it _right_. This whole fight is dumb anyway." Jerry then proceeded to ditch her, yet Frisk's HP somehow managed to go from twenty down to one as she watched him go with a hurt look. "What the actual fuck!?" Sans exclaimed in disbelief at what he just saw.

Five minutes afterwards, Sans was snoozing at his hotdog stand. "Faster! They're gaining!" Flowey's voice screamed as Frisk flew by, causing Sans' eyes to snap open. He shot up in his spot and blinked, watching the two bolt down the path and then looked towards the way they'd come in confusion before feeling the ground shake. Holding onto his stand for stability, Sans was dumbfounded as an army of Temmies ran by, chasing after Frisk as their theme played in the background.

"That's it," he grumbled irritably, the music grating on him. "No more. This is fucking ridiculous." He stretched his hand out to grab one Temmie out of the herd by the scruff of its neck and bared his teeth. "Listen up, you little thieves (1)!" Talking to one Temmie was as good as addressing them all. "Lay off the girl. No one messes with her while I'm around or you'll have to deal with me! And spread the word!" To make his point, his eye glowed brightly and a gaster blaster loomed behind him.

"h-hOI!" Temmie cowered. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten Bob. It would take a bit more to get the message across.

"Do you understand?" Sans demanded as his gaze burned into the cat-dog thing.

"T-Tem ged it!" Temmie began to vibrate with fear.

Sans' glare dissolved when he felt the shaking again and watched as the horde ran by once more, going in the opposite direction, this time carrying a tied up and gagged Frisk as Flowey screamed in distress. "We don't have any dog residues, you idiots!"

Staring after the Temmie stampede with Frisk and Flowey hostage, Sans ran his hand over his face with a groan. Watching this girl really _was_ going to make him work down to the bone.

* * *

Acknowledgements:

(1) Underfell Temmies being thieves was inspired by a pic made by ParodyPunk. Link will be in my profile.

Author's Note: Ta-daaahhh... No one? Okay. I honestly did not plan this... deception, but it worked so well that I ran with it, thinking for sure someone would call me out on my vagueness eventually. But no one did. Surprise~


	9. Chapter 9

Her legs were so numb that Frisk could hardly feel them. And she didn't know if that was a good or bad thing at this point.

"Frisk! Are you okay?" Flowey cried despite seeing the evidence that answered his question.

Frisk laid her back against a tree, thankful for the short reprieve, but wasn't about to get comfy. "Y-Yeah, just… man, those guys can run," Frisk chuckled uneasily, but the sound faded as she heard the crunching of snow in the distance.

"F-Frisk… what are you doing?" Flowey asked in weary disbelief as Frisk reached out to place his pot between some branches, rearranging them around him to conceal the flower with a concentrated look.

"I… I can't keep doing this," she murmured. She'd nearly dropped him into a puddle of freezing water and had instead fallen in herself, narrowly managing to save the flower from instant frost. "Be quiet and you'll be safe here," she reassured him as he stared at her in horror.

"You can't be serious!" he cried in panic for his friend. "Wh-Why!?" He was hurt. Sure he couldn't do much to help and after the Ruins she'd been on her own, but Frisk had never left him behind before.

"You'll be safer here," she insisted. He would have been certain she considered him a burden if the flower wasn't keen to how anxious she looked without him in her arms as she clutched her sides nervously.

"This is stupid and you know it! Now pick me up before they get here!" Flowey demanded even as his eyes pleaded with her not to do this.

But she refused.

"Just stay here and I'll come back once I lose them," Frisk promised, panting as she made sure that Flowey was secure in the pine tree's branches. "You know me. I always find a way." Forcing a smile, she spun around and ran before Flowey could protest further, though she heard his outraged yells behind her.

"… You idiot!" Was the last thing she heard as she bolted through the maze of trees.

…

 _"You're probably confused, aren't you? If you'll follow me, I'll explain everything to you," Toriel offered. Frisk could tell that the woman hadn't opened up to her entirely, but she knew that the goat woman had at least softened up to her._

 _"Does that mean I can follow you home?" Frisk asked behind her as Flowey followed close behind, shocked that Toriel had taken so well to the flirting. "'Cause my parents always told me to follow my dreams."_

 _"Unfortunately for you, this place is far from a dream," Toriel said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Allow me to educate you in the operations of the Ruins."_

 _"Operations?" Frisk frowned, glancing back at Flowey. He gave Frisk a grim, knowing look and shook his head as if she wouldn't want to know even though Toriel was surely about to give the human that very insight._

 _"I said I'd explain everything, didn't I? Luckily, there's not much to know." The goat woman led Frisk up a flight of stairs into a room with raised platforms on the ground and a single door across from where they'd entered. Frisk stopped to watch in awe as, without a single hitch in her step, Toriel continued forward, lowering the platforms as she stepped on them in some pattern Frisk was sure the monster could have done blindfolded if prompted._

 _Toriel then pulled a lever on the wall activating the door to open smoothly before walking through the threshold and turning back to Frisk with a playful smile in the wake of displaying the secret. Frisk moved to follow with a childlike wonder, but the feeling faded and her steps faltered when Toriel rose her hand to halt her approach._

 _"There is just one thing you need to know that will allow you to survive, my child." Fire appeared in the palm of her hand facing Frisk and without warning the magical attack sailed through the air. Frisk's body jerked back and she landed on her bottom as she fell, barely avoiding it. The attack came far too close for comfort when she felt the heat singe some of her hair before smelling it. Resting back on her arms, she gave Toriel a bewildered look while that odd little flower that had been following them cautiously peeked out from behind her arm which was wrapped in vines, glancing at Toriel, unsurprised, and then at the girl in concern._

 _"This the only way you can learn. By having a small taste of what this world is like," Toriel explained to the human stoically with only coldness in her stare. "In this world, it's kill or be killed."_

 _The door slid closed then and the puzzle recalibrated itself, leaving the solution Toriel had used now useless._

"And then I left them to wander the Ruins by themselves," Toriel finished, leaning her back against the door to the rest of the Underground. Toriel had known solving the puzzles on their own would be the least of the girl's problems.

"So you're saying you found a human?" Sans surmised as he rested his back to the door. It wasn't like the old lady would come through so he had no fear of it opening as he used it to take the weight of his body.

"Yes. A human girl with a talking flower." She'd observed them as they made progress, but hadn't known before the plant was verbally capable before despite being sentient and saving the girl from her attack. "The flower is guiding the child through the Ruins and slowly making their way here," Toriel informed as she crossed her arms. The conversation was seemingly as casual as one would regard the weather, but there was a hint of intrigue both found in the situation.

"You mean the human is still alive?" Sans asked in surprise. He honestly hadn't thought they'd be capable of getting past the door they'd been locked out of. And making mistakes with puzzles usually meant death if you weren't familiar with them.

"They had their fair share of confrontations with the dwellers, but the girl always managed to escape." She was just as baffled. The flower was an unknown to her before now, but it must have been familiar with the layout of the Ruins. There would have been no other way the human could have made it through. It foiled her plans, but what was more astonishing was the girl.

"… by killing them?" Sans presumed.

"By showing them mercy." Toriel didn't need to know what the monster even looked like to know that he was wearing a look of shock. Though she didn't divulge this to her pun partner, she'd intended to make Frisk strong by learning to kill, but didn't expect Frisk to spare everyone. _"_ This child is unlike the other humans we've encountered. No matter the injuries they take, the girl refuses to fight. Refuses to hurt the other. Instead, the girl is _determined_ to befriend anyone no matter who they are or what they do."

At first she'd only heard of what was happening, but to believe it she'd had to see it with her own eyes. The human befriended, joked with and comforted all whom she met and there wasn't an ounce of dishonesty in her when she did so. The human truly cared for the monsters' lives and didn't want to take them despite Toriel's advice and harsh leave.

"Sounds to me this human girl is growing on you," Sans taunted with amusement.

"… ha ha… perhaps." Toriel let a small smile show on her face. There were advantages to having a conversation with a door obscuring one another. You could only read the other person so much. "With the strength of their determination, I wonder if anyone will be able to stop them." This was a force they had never dealt with. Such foreign concepts like love, hope and compassion were breaking down everything they'd come to understand about how to live. Might made right, after all.

"Will I be able to stop them?" It was a rhetorical question, but his answer gave her a pause.

"Hell if I know." Sans raised his hand with a shrug, nonplussed. "We're supposed to kill humans, not stop them." How right he was. But she sensed he didn't truly know what she was witnessing and what facing it would mean. He'd heard what she said, but he didn't _understand._

 _Knock, knock._ Sans blinked at the sound coming from the door and looked behind him with a skeptical expression.

"Really? Right now?" he asked, his tone laced with a humored disbelief at her sudden urge to do this in the middle of their conversation.

 _Knock, knock._ Well, who was he to turn her down?

"… Fine, who's there?" he relented.

"I dare."

"I dare who?"

"I dare you to kill the girl." Sans stilled and the light in his eyes faded into the black pits of his eye sockets. "When no one else can."

Sans was silent. The old lady really thought the girl would make it that far? She thought that the human would be able to survive the rest of the Underground, especially with her little "no killing" habit. The thought that in the end Sans would be the last resort, the only one left to kill the human was laughable.

"Heh." Sans pushed off of the door. "That's not even a proper knock-knock joke," he chided, walking down the path as he pulled his hood up and his eye began to burn brightly in anticipation. "But okay. I'll take on your dare," he agreed with a broad grin. (1)

…

It'd been such a simple dare that he'd laughed it off long after meeting the human. He'd been so sure someone would kill her off and that watching her was born out of pure boredom. He'd observed her to see _when_ she'd die rather than seeing _if_ she'd die. But now Sans knew. The dare had actually been a joke and the lady had really outdone herself this time, because the joke was on him.

He hadn't understood it before, but now it made sense. She'd been so unlike anyone he'd met that it was no wonder that he hadn't realized it. Frisk was considered weak in the Underground because she didn't fight. She refused to hurt anyone even when they deserved it. Her HP was pathetic, her tactics were ridiculous and her LOVE was non-existent. It was because of these facts that he had agonized over why she was still alive when, by all he knew, she should be dead. It was also why he'd tried to rectify the situation as he saw fit, making her adapt or die as he thought she should. But the undeniable fact was that she'd turned her weakness into a strength instead.

In the monsters that had let her go, he saw something in them that he couldn't put his finger on. He'd chalked it up to the feeling of defeat for giving up when Frisk didn't attack them or die, but now he was certain. They'd felt guilt. Then they'd felt absolved by the forgiveness Frisk had readily given it to them. She didn't taunt them, make them grovel or hold grudges against them. She forgave as if the world could end tomorrow.

And because she was able to make them feel this way, not by manipulation or coercion but by simply being a good person, she survived in the Underground. They didn't attack her again and she moved on to change the next monster. Maybe change was a strong word, but he doubted they felt the same as before they'd met her. He sure as hell didn't feel the same. Given, not every encounter she had was a success and she instead had to flee at times, but the fact was that it worked on some level.

This was what the old lady had been seeing the entire time Frisk was in the Ruins, but she'd kept it to herself while Sans had been a smug, ignorant bastard to it all. There was another way out, but it took a strength completely foreign to him that he was sure was harder to achieve than by just training relentlessly as his brother or Undyne did.

But now, Frisk needed another kind of strength to survive. One she didn't have and likely never would. But he did. But maybe after this was all over he could learn. He could learn to be different. If he could find her, that is.

He had to have been searching the vast forests of Snowdin alone for at least an hour, though it felt much longer. Just when he considered going back to get Papyrus' help to broaden his range, Sans caught sight of a commotion up ahead. Multiple monsters circled something and he strained his eyes to focus on the center as he darted forward, hoping against hope that he'd finally gotten a break.

Just then, a monster flew through the air, slamming into a tree right beside Sans, causing him to skid and glance at the dazed monster before turning back ahead at the tumult. "Frisk?" he murmured in bewilderment.

…

Leaving Flowey behind had meant to give her an advantage, but if it did it made little to no difference. Only three monsters had been there when she'd been outside of Grillby's, but while she'd been running they must have called for reinforcements because a small militia was after her. If she ran in one direction, she saw another one wandering about. She didn't even know where she was anymore after all the twists and turns she'd made.

Eventually she'd been spotted and the entire herd had gone after her. Then one trip over a snow poff that she hadn't seen had given them enough time to encircle her and draw her into battle. She didn't even know that it was possible to take on so many enemies at once. After one turn she'd almost lost half of her HP and was panting as they all eagerly waited for her turn. They knew she never did anything but act or give mercy. It wasn't a fight to them. It was a slaughter.

"P-Please," Frisk shivered. "I d-don't want to fight." Had she not been suffering from a case of a mind numbness from the freezing weather, no pun intended, she might have tried to say more to talk them down, but when she tried to, her teeth only chattered. It didn't seem like it would matter though as she received nothing but scoffs and condescending laughter as she spared them, only to face another round of bullet hell. It was even harder to dodge with the thick layer of snow on the ground slowing her not to mention her current state of fatigue. Their attacks tended to hit her body more often than her soul, but she took damage all the same.

Frisk grunted when she took a direct hit and fell back only to be pummeled even further when she became a sitting target. Her clothes were torn up and blood trickled from her skin in multiple places. She had to use her sleeve to wipe a stream of blood that was coming from the side of her temple that almost ran into her eyes, but could still see it fall to the ground and stain the bright white snow an ugly, thick red.

Her vision started to blur then and when she tried to stand she only fell to her knees with a shudder, blinking at the dark spots in her sight. It took a quick glance up to tell her that she still had HP, albeit low levels, yet she could still feel her soul shifting somehow. It wasn't the same sensation as taking damage, but it was almost like her soul was starting to become unhinged and slowly slip from her grasp.

 _Fight._

"Wuh?" Frisk's unfocused eyes widened as she stared at the blood splattered snow.

 _Fight back._

Frisk shook her head. What was she thinking? "N-No." Fighting wasn't the answer.

 _They're hurting you._

That didn't mean hurting them back was right.

 _They'll kill you._

"I-I can't!" she whispered, trembling. The sound of the monsters was growing fainter and the thoughts in her mind grew stronger. As pacifistic as she was, when her luck was down and she was struggling, even Frisk considered fighting. Not to kill, but just to do something to slow them down. But then she knew, felt it, that she'd lose something if she gave in.

 _Don't think._

She wasn't really considering this.

 _Nothing works._

If she held on long enough, they'd leave her alone.

 _They won't stop._

They were trapped and desperate.

You're _trapped and desperate._

She could take it.

 _Not much longer._

They didn't mean it.

 _They don't care._

She just needed a way out.

 _Protect yourself._

She'd been through worse.

 _When does it end?_

It… _did_ it end? She didn't know. She never knew. But she needed to keep trying.

They _won't stop trying._

Using violence was wrong.

 _It's all they understand._

Could she kill someone?

 _It's just fighting._

And they lived by fighting.

Need to fight to live.

She wanted to live.

Need determination to survive.

No going back.

Frisk's hand curled around a stick on the ground she hadn't noticed before tightly as her frame shook and she took a cold, slow inhalation. Her eyes rose to scan her options, glancing from the right to the left where her blank gaze lingered, the spots in her vision gone. Her hand rose slowly and the monsters quieted, some shifting or taking a step back as they watched her hand hover with just the slightest hesitation.

Snow flew into the air and Frisk's breath ghosted from her lips as the monsters flew back, scattering in all directions. All around her were groaning bodies and pained cries hit her ears. The color red assaulted her as the wind blew loudly.

"Looking a bit worse for wear, aren't you, honey?"

* * *

(1) The Dare comic by nyublackneko. Link is in my profile.

Author's Note: Happy Valentine's Day, folks! I tried my best to wrap this arc up, but it just wasn't working out, so I thought I'd at least give you guys something. I mean, we've explored Sans' feelings a little more so that's... kind of Valentine-related? I'm not too sure about how I wrote this chapter, but I didn't see it improving, so... yeah.

Also, as of this chapter this story has hit over 50 comments and more favorites and follows than I ever imagined! Thank you guys all so much for your support, even if you've stayed silent on all accounts. Just knowing that someone out there enjoys my writing makes me feel so loved... T.T

So, I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and if not, then I wish you a Merry Cheap Chocolate Day tomorrow! ;3


	10. Chapter 10

Frisk snapped her head towards the voice and gaped. "Un-n-… you… huh?"

"Now don't speak gibberish at me. Use your big girl words."

"What are you doing here!?"

"Rude much?" Undyne pouted. "It's a free Underground and I expected more from you after I just saved your sorry butt." The cage of red spears that had sent the monsters flying dispersed with a snap of the royal guard's fingers as she approached the human girl and dragged her to her feet without warning.

Just then the monsters began to rise, drawing the women's attention. They were all injured, but still more than ready to fight.

They glared at Undyne and an icecap uttered. "What's the big idea, Nydeun?"

"Do you know what she is!?" a snowdrake demanded.

"The better question here…" Undyne began calmly. "Is, if you have to fight me to get to her, do you really want to keep going the way you are?"

"Heh. Thinking you're so tough because you can hide behind your sister, Undyne?" a gyftrot scoffed.

"Oh, honey…" Undyne laid her spear over the back of her neck, gripping it on either side of her head as she smiled sweetly. "You have no idea."

As Undyne was drawn into battle, she spoke under her breath to Frisk without looking back. "Go. Now." Her tone lacked the eased drawl it did before and Frisk blinked, speechless and trying to come up with a response through her fatigue addled mind.

"What?" Frisk replied numbly in confusion.

"Don't just stand there. You bolted the moment you had a chance when _we_ fought and it took me forever to chase you down. Where did that human go?" she asked snidely.

"You're… helping me?" she frowned.

"Look, I can hold most of them off and stall, but I can't protect you while I fight them all. If it's one or two you should be able to lose them, right? Now run along like a good human."

"But… why?"

Undyne sighed with a groan. "Ugh. Always with you and the talking. Do I really have to spell it out for you, honey? Fine." She turned to the girl as the other monsters grew impatient for Undyne to take her turn. "I'm not usually straight with people, but I don't like owing them either. With this, we're even and that's that," she said strictly. Her humiliation at being saved by a human was officially finished. "So next time you see me, you better hope you can run faster than you did the last time."

With that, Undyne faced her opponents once more and threw her arm back with her spear poised to launch. Several others materialized in the air at the same moment in multiple places in respect to the horde of monsters and they all shot forth as one when her arm swiped forward like a blur.

"Now no more talking! Go!" she shouted. Frisk jumped, but the message finally got through to her and incited the human to step back.

"Thank you. I won't forget this," she told the fish woman earnestly before sprinting into the woods once more.

"What did I just say about next ti-!?" Undyne trailed with an annoyed huff when the girl either ignored or couldn't hear her anymore. When she turned back around, she could see several of the monsters following the human with their eyes and knew that they'd try to flee and follow the moment they had the chance. This only enticed the royal guard to increase the rate of her attacks.

"Eyes over here, boys!" she called, glancing back to note with satisfaction that the human was gone.

Facing her opponents, Undyne materialized another spear into her hand and stretched her neck to the side until it cracked, hands on her hips as she gave a toothy smile upon seeing the monsters eagerly waiting to attack her. "Bring it on, punks."

…

Sans slammed the gyftrot into a nearby tree once more. It didn't get him the answer he'd wanted but neither had interrogating the monster, who'd weakly uttered pure gibberish in their dazed state from flying into the tree the first time. At least this made him feel better, if only momentarily.

Leaving it behind, he drudged towards the battlefield littered with bodies in the wake of the royal guard. His hunch was weak, but it was there and honestly all he had. No one ever attacked "Nydeun" like this, so she had to have done something reckless to bring this mass attack upon her. Reckless like protecting a human; or so he hoped.

"Where is she?" he growled as the fish woman kicked a groaning monster lying face down in the snow onto their back, giving another swing with her boot just for the hell of it.

"Gonna have to be more specific, honey," she retorted nonchalantly as she sat upon a pile of bodies. Most had fled when she'd gotten serious and the rest were knocked out. It wouldn't really do for her to kill them as a royal guard, but pummeling them nearly to 1 HP did no harm in her book.

"Frisk. The kid. The human. I know you know." Sans' eye sockets narrowed at her. He could really do without her coy act for once.

"A human? What could you want with one of those?" Undyne gave him a pointed look. "Last time I checked, you were too lazy to even tie your own shoes."

"Cut the crap and just tell me. Now," Sans demanded, clenching his glowing fist with all the patience he could muster.

"Oh? And what are you gonna do if I don't, honey?" Undyne materialized a spear and jammed it into the snowy ground as she tilted her head at him with a blank expression.

"Do not. Fucking. Test me." Sans eye lit up bright red in warning. Undyne was really pushing it and if not for the fact that Frisk was still in danger, he'd be more than inclined to take her on just to let out some built up steam from his wild goose chase.

Undyne frowned silently. "Why do you want to know?" she asked sternly with a hint of suspicion. She'd just gotten that human out of danger (for the most part). No way was she about to slap herself in the face and render her effort to fight off the monsters redundant by sicing an angry skeleton on the girl.

"She needs my help. Unless these are all of them?" he implied expectantly as he swept his gaze around with slight hope.

"… No," Undyne admitted sourly. She couldn't have left the battle to chase after the ones that fled right away without fleeing herself. One, she didn't flee, and two, she honestly thought that the girl could make it if she held off the bulk of the mob.

Meeting his gaze straight on, she sighed and pointed in the direction Frisk had run. "She went that way, but make sure you watch out for the cl-"

Sans was gone in an instant, causing the woman to scowl. "Rude!" she shouted at thin air and huffed. Well, her work was done at least.

Reaching into her pocket, she hit speed dial on her phone, resting it against her ear and idly twirled one of her spears as she waited for the person on the other line to pick up.

"You watching?" she asked with the slightest hint of anticipation. Her shoulders immediately sagged.

"What do you mean you got bored then hungry!?" the blonde roared.

"Seriously? You missed it _all_?" Undyne ran her hand down her face with a groan.

"Okay. Fine! Recap. I found her, let her run off while I fought this whole horde of monsters like a boss and just now Edgy Mc My Chemical Romance came looking for her and zapped away the moment I told him where she went," she relayed with a grin before it faded thoughtfully.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Sans had had no more inclination to help the human in her recent memory and she highly doubted he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart. So why would Sans care if Frisk was in danger? Hell, he'd been the one to tip Undyne off about the human a time or two.

Undyne's eyes widened and she nearly dropped the phone at the answer she received. "D-D-Date-Dating? THEY'RE _DATING_!?"

As Undyne ranted to herself, shooting off one question after another to try and come to terms with how this happened, the person on the other end was silent, no doubt holding the phone at arm's length to not be deafened by the fish monster's exclamations.

"… Yeah… yeah, I'm done," Undyne confirmed, still stunned as her mind whirred at the news. She'd be more annoyed that none of her questions had been answered, but she was sure she'd hear all about it from Papyrus later whether she wanted to or not, so she didn't press her companion on the phone.

"I gotta say though, your call surprised me, Alph." Undyne seemed to have collected herself. "I mean, why send me in to help her?" Undyne knew that Alphys watched the human. The scientist watched everyone. And while she'd like the think the yellow monster had called her to let her settle the score with the human, she suspected that something else had been going through her mind.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." Without a goodbye or even listening for a reply from the royal guard, Alphys unceremoniously hung up. However, she didn't need to see it on her monitors to know that Undyne was staring at her phone with a jaw dropping look of outrage at the scientist cutting their call short.

"Why do I even bother?" Alphys watched Undyne mutter under her breath in Snowdin, taking a hold of the spear she'd been playing with in her hand to hurl it at a tree in frustration.

Alphys snorted in amusement. Undyne could be so cute. Like a kitten. Only, in her case, a kitten that definitely had claws which she'd maul you with at the drop of a hat if you made her pissed. The female monster shrugged it off and went back to her desk where her instant noodles sat.

The food was still warm and she took an idle slurp before flipping through the spy cameras idly like the channels of a television. Which is what the cameras practically were to her. There were such a limited number of channels on Underground television. Because she could only stand small amounts of Mettaton, which were whenever she actually saw him around the lab, Alphys was practically always resorting to the cameras or anime she'd found to kill time when she wasn't working. But even her anime was limited, so the cameras offered the most variety. However, it was still the same Underground with all the same monsters. Fortunately for her, the human's recent appearance suddenly made watching the cameras a whole lot more interesting. Not that she had ever admitted it to said human.

 _"Oh? You're finally here, huh?" Alphys said with mild surprise. To the untrained eye, the scientist might have appeared sarcastic. Probably because she sort of was. "It sure took you long enough to get here. I thought you'd laze about the rest of the Underground forever," she said snidely._

 _The human frowned in confusion, her expression nearly matching her flower companion's whose own demeanor was steeped with suspicion. Not surprising._

 _"Do… Do I know you?" Frisk shuffled in that awkward way someone did when they felt embarrassment arising in a situation. Alphys sucked at reading people, but even she could tell the girl was being sincere._

 _"Are you stupid? Of course you don't." Alphys rolled her eyes. The girl stopped to talk to everyone who wouldn't attack her on the spot (and even then, some still did) and was willing to listen to the monster's life story if they gave her the time of day. If they'd met, the girl would've remembered._

 _"Then-"_

 _Anticipating her next question, Alphys interrupted. "Let's cut the chitchat. I've been spying on you since you got out of the Ruins. There're cameras everywhere and I can have them because I'm the royal scientist."_

 _Both the girl and sentient flower stared at Alphys, who just crossed her arms and raised a brow at them as if to say "What?"_

 _"That's… not super creepy or anything…" Flowey was the first to speak, averting his gaze to the side._

 _Frisk reacted after a moment. "You've… been watching us?" She blinked, cocking her head._

 _"Are you deaf? That's what I just said." Alphys knew this human was stupid, but she didn't anticipate they were this slow in person too._

 _"The whole time though?" she clarified._

 _This time Alphys didn't even dignify that with a reply, giving Frisk an impatient look as if to urge her to continue like she was wasting Alphys' time._

 _"I-It's just… that's a long time. And we've been here..." Frisk trailed, looking at Flowey. "A long time?"_

 _Flowey did his impression of a shrug. Without a watch, there was no telling, but it certainly felt like a long time._

 _"You'd be surprised how much time I have to watch you trying to avoid getting killed by everyone." Alphys smirked._

 _"Actually, I'm not," Flowey muttered under his breath, looking around the messy place that screamed "rat nest," earning a scolding look from Frisk. The scientist likely never left the place with how much crap was scattered everywhere and probably didn't have many guests. She'd probably rarely have to worry about cleaning up for visitors, though he also suspected that she wouldn't, even if she did have any. The amount of damns she seemed to give was approximately zero._

 _"Are you here all alone? Looks pretty… empty." Frisk glanced around the large lab, catching the giant screen locked onto her. It was a bit disconcerting, but unlike Flowey, she kept her thoughts to herself._

 _"Well, I can't have this place bustling with people. Do you know how hard it would be to get any work done with annoying people like you constantly waltzing in?" Her thoughts suddenly went to a certain royal guard, the only one of who actually did such a thing, but Alphys wasn't about to tell the human that._

 _"You_ are _here all alone. Aren't you?" Frisk frowned sadly, catching that the scientist hadn't actually answered her inquiry. "It must get lonely in here."_

 _"Pfft. So what? Are you gonna try to befriend me like everyone else? Pity me and try to make my come to some epic self-epiphany about myself or fill some gap in my life that I didn't even know I had so that I'll help you through your journey and somewhere along the line realize that you aren't so bad despite my misgivings in the beginning and prove that everyone has some inherent good in them?"_

 _Frisk and Flowey stared at her, dumbfounded and puzzled by her reaction._

 _"What? It's the oldest heel-face turn trick in the book." Alphys placed her hands on her hips, giving Frisk a look as if she were making total sense._

 _"Back away slowly," Flowey advised Frisk just above a whisper. He had a feeling that the solitary lifestyle of the female monster had gotten to her in ways that weren't visible on the surface but no less dangerous._

 _"Wh-? Uh, no. I just want to get along." Frisk rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I mean, I'd like to be friends if you wanted, but I'm not gonna make you-"_

 _"Oh, god. 'Not gonna make you make friends with me so that we'll slowly come to like each other on our own through random little "bonding" moments on the side when the pressure is off' cliché." Alphys made a disgusted face._

 _"I'm sorry. Am I supposed to say something else?" Frisk was floundered as she tried to think of something to say that the scientist wouldn't find fault in._

 _"Probably, but I'm not about to let myself fall into the predictable traps of anime. Nice try though."_

 _"But-"_

 _"Yeah, just hold that thought, will you? I think I can hear my unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood about to break through this wall."_

Alphys scowled at the fact that she'd sort of given in in the end, pulling an "old enemy helps you out in times of desperation for their own personal reasons" move, but at least consoled herself that the fact that it was for good reason that she did so. Now it was all up to the human and Alphys had a front row seat. She stopped flipping through the cameras when she found the human girl again and sat back, slurping her noodles.

She couldn't help musing that if the human girl had left Undyne stuck in that water pool cavern, the scientist never would have called Undyne to help out the girl.

Well. That and another reason.

* * *

Extra:

"I LIKE YOU!"

Half melted ice cream dropped to the floor and Alphys gaped, staring in astonishment. A deep blush spread over her face which she'd loathe for anyone to see. Thankfully, she was within the privacy of her lab where there would be no audience except for one. It was so unexpected. Her heart pounded in her chest and she blushed deeply, covering her mouth as she scrambled to think of what to say. How did one respond to something so out of left field?

"U-Undyne…" Alphys began, swallowing thickly. "I… I really…" She needed to think fast otherwise it would be over.

"I really need to tell someone about this! Anyone! Even Undyne!" Alphys gushed and flailed her arms in frustration at the screen before her. Fight scenes weren't always her thing, but she'd sat down to watch the battle between Sans and Frisk since she'd come this far. She'd observed Frisk throughout her entire journey through the Underground, save for the Ruins (which she really wished she could have watched), and needed to know what became of the pacifist human with a heart of gold and her sentient flower sidekick in the face of the seemingly lazy but actually terrifyingly strong skeleton brother. It was the chance of a lifetime that she simply couldn't pass up.

Things had been looking rough for the human and Sans had been completely unaffected by anything Frisk said or did to try and make him stop fighting her. But then, just when all seemed lost and the human was about to meet their tragic demise, she gave a sudden declaration of love! Alphys hadn't seen it coming at all, despite her reading between the lines of their past interactions, but now there was no doubt.

She watched nervously as Sans seemed to process the heartfelt confession. One tsundere moment and a bone pic later, he was grasping her hand and they were going on a date.

"I KNEW IT! I _KNEW_ IT!" Alphys cheered to herself, celebrating with her Mew Mew Kissy Cutie figurine. Her OTP was now canon! "Nothing will ruin this for me," Alphys decided then. She would keep this ship afloat at all costs.

* * *

Author's Note: Phew! Finally done! I gotta admit, this is a guilt chapter. Because I couldn't go through with putting out a new story from an entirely different fandom without giving this story its long awaited update. I promise, I _will_ be giving this a conclusion of sorts (even if not a definite one), but I have been drawn to a new obsession as of late and was itching to write about it.

I also apologize that the plot wasn't moved forward much this chapter, but no big cliffhangers for once! That's good, right? :D

Once again, thank you all for your support and comments! And guest reviewers, though I'm sorry I can't reply to your wonderful comments (as I make a point to reply to all my reviewers), I still read and love every single one of them, so thank you! :)


	11. Chapter 11

_"What do we have here?"_

She wondered if the child still lived. Likely not. However, that would mean that she should be getting news of Asgore breaking the barrier any day. No one knew what would happen when the barrier broke. It could disappear as easily as the last breathe of air that the child would take. That those children had taken. Or it could literally shake the Underground with the force of the power Asgore would have. Would be it be worth it in the end? Yes.

 _"Understand now. You are no child of mine."_

Toriel never was a very good liar. Not even to herself.

…

 _"Why do you not fight back, human?"_

They had been far more of a challenge than he had ever expected. He'd heard of the power of humans, but not their cunning. This one in particular had been absolutely dastardly. She had pretended to make mistakes on even his simplest puzzles to fool him into underestimating her. She had smugly thwarted his plans by eating his spaghetti, seeing through his false pretense that it was poisoned so that she would have to stare at his delicious meal longing, but know she couldn't eat it, thinking it was poisoned when it actually wasn't. She had played mind games with him by feigning fear at The Gauntlet Of Deadly Terror so that he would be so embarrassed by his inadvertently blatant overkill to capture her that he would resort to more lowly manners of dealing with her such as fighting her directly.

But most sly of all was that the human had befriended him. Even now he was unsure of exactly how she had done it.

 _"I, the Great Papyrus, will protect you, and by extension, become your friend."_

The devious mind of that human was truly bone-chilling.

…

 _"Are you alright, honey? I was running from these horrible monsters, scared out my wits."_

The girl had been easy prey, if Undyne had ever seen any. Oozing with trust, she'd been led around like a sheep. She almost could have thought it was cute, like a puppy vainly trying to catch its own tale before stumbling dizzily into a garbage can. But then that puppy had gotten her thrown into a pool of water and wasn't so cute anymore. In fact, it was very much rage-inducing and made her a little more homicidal than usual. But, just a like a stupid dog that didn't know what was good for it, she'd gotten Undyne out as well.

 _"So next time you see me, you better hope you can run faster than you did the last time."_

She still couldn't really decide which category the human girl currently fell in.

…

 _"It sure took you long enough to get here."_

She still shipped it. She did. But shipping became stressful when one shipped two idiots. The ignorance, the emotional cover-ups, the doubt, the stupid choices like running away from the one monster that she could actually count on! These were the pitfalls. Simple simple pitfalls. So why couldn't anyone ever see through them except for her? Sigh. If nothing else, they made for good drama.

 _"Yeah, just hold that thought, will you? I think I can hear my unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood about to break through this wall."_

She definitely hadn't been avoiding anything. So what if she had Mettaton's call button on her phone?

…

 _"I can't understand you sometimes Frisk… I just can't understand… why you're being… so nice to everyone…"_

He had not done a lot of good in his life. Hardly any, really. At the time, he hadn't cared though. He was like everyone else, just trying to survive. But that was really no excuse. If he were being honest, back then, there was only one good thing he had ever done and he hadn't even been very earnest in doing it. Now, he had another chance. He was so much less and so much more than what he was before, but he was doing his best.

 _"… You idiot!"_

He really hoped this wouldn't be the second time that those were his last words to a human he cared about.

…

 _"But okay. I'll take on your dare."_

Heh. What an idiot he was.

 _"Thank you for helping me, Sans."_

He hadn't stood a chance.

…

Just like the last time she had been falling under.

 _I'm sorry…_

* * *

To the end's beginning or the beginning's end? One draws near.


	12. Chapter 12

"Pink or blue?"

Frisk paused her chewing and gave Sans a funny look. He'd invited her to come with him to Grillby's and, despite Flowey's disapproval, his insistence had kind of won her over. All he had shown her so far was mild interest and mockery, so his invitation was unexpected.

"Come on, kid. I won't bite this time." He'd joked with her. To be fair, it probably hadn't been her best idea to approach Sans while he was sleeping. She'd nearly lost a finger when he'd woken abruptly and snapped at her. "Think of it as a didn't-mean-to-be-an-asshole gesture." If he'd meant it, she would've known.

Taking his shortcut and waiting for their food, neither of them had spoken a word. Sans had even ordered for the both of them, but Frisk hadn't minded. She was hungry and realized just how much when Grillby had come back with the food. She had snatched the burger the moment he'd set it down on the counter and the monster, despite his flaming composition, had recoiled like _she_ had been on fire.

Sans had been content to wait for her to shove some of the food down her gullet before he'd popped the random question.

Chewing with some difficulty (she'd taken nearly a fourth of the burger in one bite), Frisk swallowed and licked her lips.

"What?" She frowned. His question didn't make any sense.

"I said 'pink or blue'?" He reiterated, casually eating a french fry. She only noticed just then that he'd drowned the whole serving in mustard. "Which do you like better?"

"Uh, I don't really have a preference. Why?" She used a napkin to wipe off some grease from her hands.

"Because I want to know where to look. If you haven't noticed, red, yellow and black are kind of the primary colors down here. And I figured pink or blue would be a safe guess." He gestured to their sweater.

"I'm still lost," Frisk said slowly with a puzzled look. "Why do you want to know a color I like?"

"So I'll know what kind of flowers to get your corpse. Assuming there's anything left of you."

Frisk blinked at him. "There are blue flowers down here? Or black ones for that matter?" She frowned.

Sans stared at her with a confounded look of annoyance. "One, the echo flowers, duh." Frisk blushed. "And two, you're making it really hard for me to be coy about your imminent death here. Is that all you got out of what I just said?" Sans groused, then glanced at Flowey. "Then again, I guess you've already got that department covered." He reached a bony finger out to poke at the yellow flower. The sentient plant stiffened, letting out a low, nervous hiss before Frisk casually slid his pot over to her other side, acting as a barrier between the two.

"You think I'm going to die. I've kind of gotten that for a while," Frisk admitted, taking another, smaller bite of her burger. It wasn't news to her how little faith anyone but Flowey had in her.

Though accepting, she seemed slightly sullen. Sans raised the rim of his eye socket at her. "What? It's your own fault," he reasoned. "But no human has ever made it this far before. I reasoned that you should get some kind of consolation prize for that."

"Thanks?" Frisk finished her burger, staring at the counter pensively before she swallowed. "Why do you just assume I'll die? Maybe I got this far for a reason."

"Everyone dies," Sans said flatly. "But people like you die faster. It's as simple as that." Sans shrugged.

Frisk stared at him silently as the skeleton continued to eat his fries. By the time he was done, he noticed that her eyes were still trained on him and he smirked. It was only natural for someone who wasn't used to his love for mustard.

Without breaking their locked gaze, he reached out to grab another bottle of the condiment and began drinking it straight as he always did. He received the look of disgust he'd expected, but not from Frisk. Rather, the flower looked like it was gagging and turned its head away from him.

The abrupt _slam_ brought his attention back to the human girl as she stood with her palm flat on the table. Her flower companion was just as shocked by the most violent display he had ever seen from the human girl.

However, Frisk simply smiled at Sans. "Well, when I die, _nice and slow_ ," she told him pointedly, "I'll definitely tell you what color flowers I want. Promise they'll be pretty!" she added brightly.

"I don't make promises," Sans mumbled in a daze.

"It's a promise!" she declared.

With that, Frisk grabbed a bewildered Flowey and headed out the door. "Thanks for treating me by the way!" she called just before she exited the establishment.

Sans was stunned, leaning his back against the counter and gaping in confusion, speechless. It was not the most shocking thing he had ever witnessed, but it was the last thing he expected from the pacifistic, seemingly demure human.

"Wow." Sans was startled by the voice of the usually silent fire elemental. He glanced over and saw Grillby as the monster was reaching out to grasp something on the countertop, his fiery hand obscuring Sans' vision. "Can't remember the last time _you_ paid for a meal, Sans," he commented snidely, picking up the gold.

Sans stared at the empty spot beside him while Grillby went to go put the money into the register.

"Huh… neither can I."

…

Frisk could hardly feel anything. At the moment, that was progress in her book as the numbing of her body seemed to allow her to push it further than what would have been possible could she feel her fatigue and wounds.

After Undyne's unexpected help, Frisk had almost thought she'd been in the clear. If she could navigate her way back, maybe she could finally get some needed rest. The monsters had other plans.

Frisk was cornered from all sides. There was no mercy, no sparing and no fleeing. Their combined attacks were relentless and the longer she fought them the more damage she took. When she'd been running the wind had kicked up and blown the snow in a blinding flurry in front of her. It was by sheer luck that it had cleared before she'd run right off the cliff, but it meant she had a steep drop on one side of her and hostile monsters on the other.

She cried out as the last hit of their attack made her fall back onto the snow, panting. They couldn't hit her until their next turn, but as she looked over her options things were looking more grim. Again.

Her actions were exhausted. Just like her.

 _Fight._

God, and there it was again. She ran a hand over her face and stared blankly at the blood that came away. Why did she keep thinking this? She didn't want to fight or hurt anyone, so why did she keep second guessing herself?

As she stood a sudden gust of wind blew so hard that the snow fell from nearby trees and everything bowed in the wake of its force. Covering her face from the stinging air, Frisk took a step back to steady herself, but instead of feeling stable ground take her weight, she felt snow giving way underneath her.

Her scream was drowned out by the wind and turned from fearful to agonized as she grasped the ledge, feeling the hard, cold, sharp rock digging into her hands. Not as numb as she'd thought she was, apparently. Pure determination to live was the sole thing keeping her grip from slipping, but she didn't know if she could keep it for long. In her panic, she glanced up and could see the monsters approaching from over the precipice. She then looked down to see how bad the drop would be. Arguably worse than a "good time" with Sans.

Tears pricked her eyes and dread coursed through her when she saw nothing but a white blurry mist below her. She couldn't see how far it went, but she could see far enough to know that a fall would kill her.

 _Reset._

Her hands trembled from the combined strain of the cold, pain and her struggle to support the weight of her body. Could she muster the strength to pull herself up? Then what?

Maybe _that_ was the answer this time. Not running, not fighting, not talking, but dying. It would hurt, but she knew it wasn't the end. It never was.

The real question was when did it-no, when _was_ it going to start? Frisk could hardly think let alone recall the last time she had SAVED. She did it once right after meeting Sans. That couldn't be it though, could it? But her panic-addled mind didn't produce a single other memory of her SAVING more recently than that.

If she did this, she might lose all her progress. Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Sans and more. Everything would be wiped clean. Everything would be gone. Every _one_ would be gone.

 _"Well, when I die,_ nice and slow _," she told him pointedly, "I'll definitely tell you what color flowers I want."_

Frisk hadn't meant it like this; this endless chase, being battered, beaten and bruised by relentless monsters. No. She'd been determined to prove him wrong. She'd wanted to show him that there was always a possibility for good, for the unexpected, for change, for hope.

Panting and tightening her grip on the frozen rock, Frisk decided. Going back was the only way for her to go forward.

She shut her eyes. She let go. And she fell. And she was weightless.

Just like the last time she had been falling under.

...

...

...

...

 _You're going to be alright!_

...

...

...

...

 _Frisk!_

 _Stay determined..._


	13. Chapter 13

It was cold. Yet, warmer than what she should have felt. It made sense.

In the distance she could see the disturbance in the snow where Papyrus had directed his attack to obliterate the snow pile distracting his brother.

There was no sign of either skeleton in sight, however.

The wind blew softly, nothing like the flurry that had left her cornered on the cliff. Looking down, Frisk spotted the sullen looking flower in her arms. His head hung lowly as if he was afraid to look at her.

"Flowey," she called him tenderly, urging him to look at her. When he finally turned his head he had a deep frown imbedded in his expression.

"I should have been there," Flowey whispered, overwhelming guilt showing on his face.

Frisk's eyes shut as if pained and she held Flowey close, placing her forehead against his.

"It's okay. We won't make the same mistakes this time," she promised him. "It's over. And we can keep moving forward."

"No, Frisk. It's not over." Flowey glanced at the stark white path ahead of them. Though the wind was light, it easily kicked up enough snow to obscure their path. They couldn't see more than a few yards ahead of them. "It's just the beginning. Again." He looked at her uncertainly. "Are you sure you want to do this? What if there's no end? Or worse? A dead end?" He had tried and failed many times to try and make things right. To change what didn't seem alterable so that there would be a better future ahead.

"Flowey, this isn't about finding an end or even finding the right one," she explained to the plant somberly. "It's about what we can do on the way there."

The flower gave her a slightly befuddled look before shaking his head. "Hmph. You may be determined, but you sure have low standards," Flowey grumbled, not without acceptance and support. "Just know that we're sticking together this time. I don't care if I have to drag you around the Underground."

"Is that a promise?" Frisk's face split into a teasing smile.

"Just keep that smiley trashbag away from me this time." Sans still gave him the creeps.

Her smile faltered slightly as she glanced up at the empty path before them. "He wasn't such a bad guy, you know." Memories of their brief date flashed through her mind. Though it was awkward at first and even interrupted by Papyrus, Frisk could tell how much he was trying. Sans wasn't known for his enthusiasm and hard work after all.

"Maybe he wasn't then, but he sure is now." Even Flowey admitted that Sans seemed to have a slight change of heart near the end, but the flower wasn't about to tempt a wolf with a lamb any sooner than he'd trust Sans around Frisk.

"Maybe…" Frisk's breath misted from her mouth in a white mist before her steps crunched the snow beneath her feet.

 _"Heheh. The old joy buzzer in the hand trick. It's_ always _funny."_

 _"Just remember that not everyone here is as humerus as me."_

 _"Come on, kid. I won't bite this time."_

 _"Go ahead and spare me. I'll still kill you."_

 _"What? You… can't…? N-No! It won't cost you anything! Just eat it, damn it!"_

 _"Everyone dies," Sans said flatly. "But people like you die faster. It's as simple as that."_

 _"That was awful, kid." Sans gave a lopsided grin with a roguish playfulness. "Let me show you a real joke."_

"Or maybe not. We'll just have to see." A smile ghosted past her lips as she strode forth with determination into the snowy, white void.

…

 _But he refused…_

…

It was warm. But that didn't make sense. Every time that Frisk had died she had felt a cold even worse than the chill that she had experienced from ice sinking into her skin and even her bones during her escape. The cold had encompassed her very soul.

It had never been warm before.

Frisk's eyes fluttered open and she saw red. It surrounded her and her soul which appeared in front of her chest in a bright aura.

"S-Sans?" Her voice came out barely above a whisper and slurred. Her body was trying to conserve the little amount of heat left in it and opening her mouth only served to invite more cold in.

"I've got you, Frisk." Sans appeared disheveled, tired and panting, a far cry from his usual state of either laidback composure or being in some sort of vicious frenzy.

Sans slowly set her down on her feet directly in front of him, safely away from the cliff. However, the moment she had to support her own weight, she collapsed with a gasp as sharp pain shot through her ankle. Did she twist it when she fell? She vaguely recalled her foot grinding against the cliff side after the ledge gave way.

"Shit." Sans quickly caught her arms and helped her to sit down on the snowy ground. Looking her over, he growled and turned on his heel to face the groaning monsters on the ground. It'd taken him less than a second to pile drive them to the side when he'd seen Frisk hanging from the cliff, but now they had his undivided attention. Judging from the looks on their faces, they knew it.

He raised his hand as multiple blasters were summoned, his eye burning in his socket like a deathly inferno in the darkest pits of hell.

"Every one of you fuckers just made the last mistake of your sorry lives!"

He aimed. They braced for impact. Something grabbed him from behind.

The blasts easily melted the snow and fried the frozen ground underneath, swerving and missing some of the monsters by mere feet.

Sans glanced back, his fury still raging until he felt a tremor shake him. One he hadn't caused. Frisk had her arms grasped around his waist, her eyes squeezed shut as she shook and mumbled incoherently under her breath. It took him a few seconds to make out what she said.

"N-No more… st-op… plea-ease… c-can't… I… dun want…" Tears streamed down her face and it struck Sans that he had never seen her so afraid. Not even when she had been staring death in the face. Staring _him_ in the face.

"Even now…?" Was all he asked as his ire morphed into pity and his arms fell to his side, shoulders slumped. Even now, she didn't want anyone to get hurt or die.

He doubted whether she had even heard him, still clinging to him, either sobbing or shaking from the cold.

"What am I gonna do with you, kid?" He mumbled under his breath before placing a gentle hand on her head and glancing back at the stunned, fearful monsters.

"I was about to give you guys a bad time for fucking with the one thing I want to protect," he told them thoughtfully. "I'd decided that the moment I saw you, you'd be dead where you stand." He clenched his fist.

"But because of this human, I won't do any of that." He lowered his head. "But if you ever go near her again?" All light in his eyes were gone, leaving a void so dark it threatened to suck one inside. "I won't kill you." Most disturbingly of all, for once, Sans wasn't grinning as he spoke lowly, "I'll give you a worse time."

The monsters took their cue to scatter.

…

"What the fuck are you saying?"

"I-I don't think… I… c-can make it back," Frisk repeated herself. Her HP was at one, but that didn't take into account her physical body. When monsters attacked her, they were attacking her body _and_ soul, but they were also attacking the bond between the two. If the bond gave out, she died, but if her body gave out then she also died. At this point, in the shape she was in, it wouldn't matter if she had all of her HP.

Frisk let out a quivering sigh. "I'm sorry you came all this way-"

"Damn right you're sorry. Now prove it to me by cutting this bullshit!" Sans demanded. He didn't even seem aware that his eye was glowing in his anger.

"I can't walk, Sans," Frisk spoke slowly, managing not to stutter, though her voice wavered from her shuddering.

"Then I'll carry you." Nothing Sans did would mean shit if he couldn't convince Frisk to persevere. In another situation he would have laughed at the irony. He would've blasted someone and laughed in their face a week ago if they told him he'd soon be urging a human to live.

"I can't feel my legs." Her head swam even as Sans held her steady with her back against his arm. Experimentally, she tried to move one leg and got a weak twitch.

"Then tough shit. I'm not gonna let you die here." The skeleton was new at this whole encouragement thing, but he was pretty sure cursing her out wasn't helping. However, his irritation at her giving up slipped into his speech. Although, he was even more angry and disgusted with himself when he thought that she might finally be giving up because he'd constantly been insisting she do so.

"I-It's okay. I won't… really die." Frisk averted her gaze to the side awkwardly. There was no good way to explain the whole reset thing to him. "Please, just trust me Sans. I'll be okay. It'll be _okay_." She promised.

"No. No, it's not fucking okay! It's fucking selfish!" Sans ground his teeth and his grip on her tightened. "You may not die, but you'll… no I'll… all of us." He began to sweat. "We could still lose something. Maybe everything." Sans made an expression she'd never seen on his face before. It took Frisk a moment to recognize what it was. Fear.

Frisk stared at him stunned. Did he know…?

He then groaned, running a hand over the back of his skull in frustration. "This is complicated and I can't even begin to explain, but listen to me. Don't start giving up now! You're going to be alright! Frisk! Stay determined…" He trailed, the smallest hint of doubt showing on his face before he turned his fiery glare on her once again. "Do that and I promise I'll get you back! I promise I'll get you through this!"

The human stared at him, speechless.

 _"I don't make promises," Sans mumbled in a daze._

It had been such an offhanded comment, but something dark and morose about his demeanor and tone, that Sans probably hadn't even noticed in himself, had struck her then.

 _"This the only way you can learn. By having a small taste of what this world is like," Toriel explained to the human stoically with only coldness in her stare. "In this world, it's kill or be killed."_

 _"I, the Great Papyrus, must be ready for a human, for once I capture them, becoming a royal guard is a given! All that I deserve will be within my reach!"_

 _"Even if you make it past me, someone's going to capture you sooner or later. And knowing the people here like I do, most aren't going to be satisfied with just taking your soul."_

 _"You'd be surprised how much time I have to watch you trying to avoid getting killed by everyone." Alphys smirked._

 _"I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. I'm actually supposed to be on the hunt for humans right now, but… ya know… I don't really care about capturing anybody."_

Frisk glanced up at him, her mouth a firm line. Meeting his eyes. She knew.

 _"He's probably gaining her trust for now. Only a human would be stupid enough to fall for that trick and who knows what humans can do if you're not careful? Plus, he does always get kicks from messing with people's heads."_

Her lips began to quiver and she quickly ducked her head down as fresh tears began to wet her eyes.

He was real. This was real.

Sans instantly stiffened and reeled back, worried for a moment that maybe he had gone too far in shouting at her before Frisk spoke.

"O-Okay… okay, Sans." She sniffled and wiped away her tears which felt hot on her cold skin with her sleeve. "You win." She gave him a weak smile, causing him to blink.

"A-About damn time," he muttered, trying to conceal his surprise, but seemed even more relieved than her before kneeling in front of her and assessing the full damage. "Damn, you look like shit." Sans was upset, but it wasn't directed at her. "Can you even stand?" he asked, noting her swelling ankle.

"M-Maybe." Frisk sniffled and stood to her full height with Sans' help, but the moment she was on her own she stumbled and fell backwards. Sans quickly grasped her hand and she gave a hiss when he squeezed the scrapes on them from holding onto the ledge. Once she was stable on her good leg with his hands on her shoulders Sans immediately scowled.

"Okay, you're a walking disaster," he concluded, frowning at her blood now on his hands. "Any healing items on you?"

"Would have used them by now if I did," Frisk said with a helpless shrug that turned into a shiver as the wind blew by them. Her breath was visible and it was starting to snow lightly.

Sans glanced around them as if to gauge their positions and his frown deepened. "Can't teleport," he muttered more to himself.

"Why not?" Frisk asked with a raised eyebrow. She'd never quite figured out he could even teleport until he did so in the sentencing hall. She'd had her suspicions, but he'd never been as blatant with it before as he had then.

"L-Look, it's more complicated than you think." He ran his hand over his skull making a scraping noise due to the friction of his bones, appearing as if even beginning to explain would be too frustrating for him and she didn't really expect much toleration from him in the first place. "Just trust me when I say I can't, but I would if I could."

Without another word, he stripped off his jacket and threw it over Frisk. She was too busy holding herself for warmth to catch it, but it fell surprisingly well over her shoulders and was warmer than she expected from being worn by a skeleton. He reached forward to pull the hood over her head none too gently in his dash to get her covered and then raised his hand. Her heart appeared in front of her chest, taking on a red glow as she was lifted and he placed her on his back, taking hold of her thighs to keep her there.

"Just hold on and shut up. I won't let you turn into a human-cicle," he reassured her. She gave a curious blink.

"You could warn me when you're gonna do that." She blew some hair out of her face with a huff, though relieved that she didn't have to walk.

"What did I just say about shutting up?" Sans asked rhetorically. "… When I do what?" he asked seconds later, keeping his eyes forward as he walked.

"Using your magic to lift me. It surprised me." And she was having flashbacks of their fight when she began a human rag doll.

"So? I needed you to get on my back and it was faster," he said simply with a shrug. "I don't have the damn patience to let you climb all over me. You can barely stand," he grumbled, but his tone was soft like he was trying to keep quiet.

"I guess," Frisk admitted begrudgingly. Silence fell over them and she moved to slip her arms into the sleeves and hugged the large jacket to her for warmth. It was lined on the inside making her wonder if Sans really could feel the cold. He gave no indication of it as a chilled wind blew by them and he didn't even flinch despite being in only a T-shirt, shorts and his feet sunk down below the snow's surface.

"This jacket smells greasy," Frisk commented then with a curious sniff.

"Well, excuse me. I didn't exactly stop by the cleaners while I was looking for you," Sans uttered sarcastically. "Deal with it or give it back. It's cold as hell out here."

"… Your bones keep poking me when you walk," she added after another bout of silence, wrapping her arms around him to steady herself.

"Sounds like a meatbag problem to me. I'm already saving your life, what more do you want? And what do you expect from a skeleton?" he groused, shifting her to rest her legs on his hip bones nonetheless so she wouldn't have to put as much weight forward onto him.

As they walked, Frisk laid her chin on Sans' shoulder bone in fatigue and shut her eyes, exhaling softly. "Hey, Sans?"

Turning back to her, at the end of his patience, he growled. "If it's another complaint, I swear, you can walk yourself back to-"

"I really do feel safe around you," Frisk told him with a sleepy smile, silencing him into a blushing stupor. He let his head fall down to look at his feet crunching in the snow as he grasped for a response, making frustrated noises of consternation now that he had the answer he'd been wanting before.

Finally he settled on a gruff, "After all I've been through for you, ya better."

"Thanks for saving me."

"Don't mention it, kid."

"And for healing me after our fight."

"It was my fault you were like that. What was I gonna do?" He blushed harder.

"And for carrying me back."

"Are you gonna thank me for every time I'm not a complete asshole!?" Sans exclaimed, visibly flustered.

Frisk laughed, tightening her arms around him with a squeeze. "Should I not?"

"N-No, just… gah!" He really wished he had his jacket then so he could cover his bright red face with the hood.

Frisk sighed, her chin on his shoulder. "I don't mean to tease you. Too much," she added with a smile before shivering. "But it helps me stay awake. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to fall sleep like this."

"Well… what do you want me to do then?" Sans asked, sounding more at a loss than annoyed.

"Mm, just… just keep talking with me to keep me awake." Frisk blinked back sleep as her head grew foggy.

"Okay…" He wracked his brain for a subject. "I dunno what to talk about," he sighed in defeat.

"Did you mean it when you said I was the one thing you wanted to protec-?"

"I got it!" Sans hurriedly interrupted. "So did you hear the one about the guy that…?"

Frisk giggled at his morbid joke, but more so at his bashful behavior. She found that when he wasn't threatening her life, it was kind of cute. However, he seemed tense. Luckily for him, she knew just what to do.

"Hey, Sans."

"What is it now?" He asked with dread.

"You were right."

"About what?" He frowned in confusion.

"I _did_ have a good time after all…" She mused aloud with a smile. "Did you have a great time?"

"… Seriously, kid?" Sans asked slowly, stunned nearly speechless. "That's the worst joke you've made. By far."

Being chased by monsters, beaten to a bloody mess and nearly freezing to death before almost falling off the edge of a cliff was far from a good time. Either that was a joke or the hypothermia was worse than he thought and she was starting to spout of nonsense.

"No. I've got a worse one," Frisk declared confidently.

"Oh? Then let's hear it." He humored her, but when all he heard was whispers, Sans scowled. "What? You gotta speak up, kid." He turned his head towards her to listen more closely.

"What did the human say to the skeleton?" Frisk said softly.

"What?"

"I heard you were heartless, but that can't be true."

The rim of Sans' eye socket rose and he urged her on. "Why not?"

"Because you clearly stole mine." His head was twisted further at an almost discomforting angle before cold lips pressed against his teeth causing Sans to stiffen in shock before Frisk pulled back with a sly grin.

"Bad to the bone, right?"

"Uh… yo-wha…?" Sans stammered as a bright red blush overtook his face.

"My joke," Frisk clarified with a soft smile.

"Er, yeah… sure…" Sans finally snapped his head forward and lowered it as he rumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" Frisk blinked blearily.

"Nothing! Just… hang tight. I'll get us-" Sans cut himself off when he felt her head limply settle onto his shoulder. His eye sockets widened as he strained to look back at her, but couldn't see her face past her brunette locks.

"Kid? … Frisk?" He called softly as panic began to swell in his chest.

"Hm? Yeah, m' still here." She nuzzled against his shoulder with a fatigued noise as Sans let out a breath of relief.

"Just hold on. We'll be there soon," he told her, laying his cheek against the side of her head as he walked.

Frisk was so tough that he could sometimes forget she was only human. Yet, even at her worst, she could still play him with ease.

 _"What the hell does this girl do to me?"_

* * *

Extra:

"Hey. Wait a second," Frisk told him tiredly as they approached town.

"Why?" Sans asked in confusion. If anything she should be telling him to speed up.

"I still have that carrot from that snowpiece you gave me." Frisk pulled the orange vegetable from her pocket. "Looks like he could use it." She pointed to the snowman in the distance.

Sans gave a shifty glance in that direction, frowning. "Uh… listen, Frisk, we gotta get you back and warmed up A.S.A.P. We don't have a lot of time before you-"

"It'll hardly take a second," Frisk reasoned. "I promise I won't die in the time it takes for you to take a small detour." Seriously, it was barely a couple of yards away.

"I dunno about-"

"Sans. Just do it," Frisk pleaded with a tired sigh. "Please."

Debating his options, Sans begrudgingly deviated from their path at the human's insistence.

It was funny. Frisk had gone down the main path they were on before, but hadn't noticed this little trail. That might have been because they were being chased by monsters and hadn't had time to notice the path or the snowman.

Frisk waited to reach out and complete the snowman's noseless face while Sans approached cautiously.

It wasn't saying anything and its eyes were still, so perhaps it was sleeping. Just as Sans inched close enough, Frisk shoved the carrot into the snowman's face.

"WHO THE FUCK IS THERE!?"

Sans and Frisk jumped as the eyes of the snowman narrowed at them with a wrathful glare. Then recognition flashed past its eyes.

"Oh ho! Looks who's back!" The snowman remarked snidely. "You want another piece of me, ya skelefucker!?"

"Fuck me," Sans groused with a groan.

"You wish, you bonetard," the snowman snapped. "You're lucky I can't move or I'd return the favor and make a joke out of you. By fucking up your stupid face!"

"S-Sans, what is he talking about?" Frisk gaped, dumbfounded by the snow creature's attitude.

"Can we just leave now-?"

"Him stealing part of my goddamn body is what!" The snowman shouted irritably. "Do you know what a snowman without a carrot nose is? Or how much motherfucking snowfall it took to just accumulate my face back!? Since I can't fucking move from this spot!" The snowman seemed to only grow more enraged at the thought.

"Look, you frozen piss pile." Sans bared his teeth. More so than usual. "You got your limp little carrot back-"

"At least I fucking _have_ one!" he taunted back.

"And if you haven't noticed, there's snow fucking everywhere! Your body isn't that hard to fucking fix!" Sans shouted.

"You did wh-? That was the snowball you fed me!" Frisk realized suddenly. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry," she apologized in horror. "I was hurt so Sans came to-"

"Well, whoopty-fucking-do for you, girlie! He steals my face and you got your HP up. It's a goddamn fairytale end for everyone but me!" The snowman surely would be shaking in anger if it could move.

"Hey!" Sans growled at the snowman defensively. "Shut your fucking mouth before I tear your eyes out next, you shit-talking asshole!"

"Oh, sure. Attack the immobile snowman. I'm sure the Jerrys of the forest will forever respect you and be in your debt," the snowman sneered sarcastically. "Sans, the great defeater of the terrifyingly stationary snowman!"

"Don't fucking tempt me-"

"Enough!" Frisk shouted, drawing the monsters' attention. "Sans. What you did to him was horrible. I want you to apologize," she declared.

Sans gaped at her as the snowman smirked triumphantly.

"You want me… to…? Even though he-he's a complete douchebag!?" Sans pointed at snowman accusingly.

"Apologize or I swear I will reset this place back into last Tuesday!" Frisk told him sternly.

Sans ground his teeth in frustration. Frisk just _had_ to notice the snowman. "Couldn't we just-?"

"Sans! Apologize!"

Sans growled and glowered at the snowman. "I'm… s-sor… sor-ry." The sound of bone grinding followed every syllable.

The snowman stared at him. "… Wow. I don't think I've ever heard a more shitty excuse for an apology in my entire life."

"That's it! You wanna go, button eyes!?" Sans' left eye burned bright red in an instant.

The snowman grinned mockingly. "Come at me, ya piece of shit."

"Sans!" Frisk scolded him.

"But he-"

"You stole a piece of his face and fed it to me! Which is actually really messed up now that I've said that aloud." Frisk inhaled deeply and sighed, speaking as if she were talking to a child. "Now try again."

"…"

"…"

"..."

"I-"

"Is this gonna take all day, skeletard?"

"Eat blaster, snowdick!"

"SANS! NO!"

"SANS FUCKING YES!"

* * *

Author's Note: We have now come full circle with the snowman. The end. ^_^ Essentially. Hurray! This is as far as I ended up planning or mapping out and I'm honestly just glad to have finished this little plot line. Some of the stuff in here I had planned for chapter 7. Oh how naively optimistic I was. I'm good with leaving it here and can only see drabbles coming after and only if the mood hits me.

There's a link or two associated with this chapter, which you can find in my profile by going to the link for the master link list for my Undertale fanfiction. Also worth noting, I wrote the fluffiest bits while listening to Palette by Supercell. Give it a listen if you want to get more immersed. :)

If it wasn't obvious, I wanted to state that Sans knows about the resets, but he doesn't know exactly how they work. For all he knows, Frisk could reset to the very beginning and he might lose all of his memories, recent epiphanies and feelings which is why he was so panicked about her dying even if he knew she wouldn't stay dead.

Also, a quick note on Frisk to keep in mind is that, just because she stays determined and perseveres it doesn't mean that things don't take a toll on her. Everyone can use a hand sometimes.

I just put a lot of thoughts and angles on some of these scenes, but realize they may not always make sense to people reading them since they don't know the definite psychology of the characters like I do when I write scenes.

Thank you to everyone once again for your love, comments and support. I never thought I'd return to writing, but you guys all reminded me just why I wanted to even try it in the first place. Stay determined. ^w^


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